
Federal government giving back money seized from man at Cleveland airport - vezycash
https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2018/06/federal_government_giving_back.html
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Medox
This should hurt CBP more than just returning "almost all" of the cash. Maybe
then they will repair their processes and inform everybody better.

Otherwise it will just remain an absurd "I stole from you; you saw it; I gave
the money back to you; No hard feelings please."

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Simulacra
In some places, the budget for the police or the prosecutors office is made up
of civil forfeiture proceeds.[0,1] A budget should never, ever be made up in
part or in totem of the proceeds from civil or criminal fines and forfeitures.
Ever.

0\.
[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/08/12/taken](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/08/12/taken)
1\. [http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/28/new-york-prosecutors-
gave-...](http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/28/new-york-prosecutors-gave-
themselves-32)

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merinowool
Another success of "war on drugs". How Americans got so apathetic and let
different organisations essentially bully them however they want? The reports
about what's happening in America paint a picture as if it was a police state
where right to private property is no longer respected along with the right to
life. If you have a bad day you can be killed and all your belongings
confiscated and your family will not be able to seek recourse. Perhaps because
of the chance of this happening is so small, average citizen doesn't care.
Meanwhile hostility towards citizens grows undisturbed.

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AtlasBarfed
Most noxious aspects of the war on drugs are generally applied as a proxy war
to the war on minorities...

Civil forfeiture seems to be often applied to whites. Perhaps they are the
only cases that get attention.

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merinowool
When I watched documentary "The House I Live In" I was really shocked by the
scale of the abuse towards citizens. It was in 2012, about six years later
nothing has changed or it is going even worse. Now, when I share a link to
this documentary, usual response is that I am a nutcase and that is some sort
of conspiracy theory! This is insane...

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outsidetheparty
Civil asset forfeiture simply needs to end. There's no excuse for it; it's
such an obvious perverse incentive.

If somebody's suspected of a crime, charge them with that crime. If there's
not enough evidence to charge them, then there is no reason the police (or
border patrol, or anyone else) should be able to just take their stuff away
and keep it.

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iincuser
Few things that bug me about this: \- what would have happened if this guy
didn’t get a lawyer, couldn’t afford one, or was too intimidated by this
experience to do so? How many others fall into this category? \- he was
planning on using his life savings to buy some real estate. Now I don’t know
what the Albanian market is like, but it’s been at least 90 days since this
happened and I know in the US, 90 days can equal some big missed opportunities
in real estate..

~~~
wgj
> How many others fall into this category?

It happens a lot. ($2.5B in 2010) In some states, it's a systemic source of
income for police departments. Most asset forfeitures are never returned to
the individual, yet they are never charged with any crime. Even with an
attorney, it is extremely hard to recover your money or other assets.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States#Statistics)

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dade_
Back in 1970 when these laws were written, 10,000 was worth abouy 65000 today.

These laws need to be revised for inflation. The idea that someone needs to
justify having 10K in cash or proof of where it came from is far too low
today.

See also, bank secrecy act if your business operates in cash transactions.

Of all things, this is something Trump ahould take on.

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blitmap
That is something I had not considered - good point!

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ssijak
Why would anyone have to have proof of anything? Where is "innocent until
proven guilty". If the government thinks that someone got their money from an
illegal activity they should prove that, not the other way around.

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ed_balls
p much every country imposes the obligation on you.

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ssijak
In my country, you have to be criminally charged and on trial before the
government can seize (until the trial is over if you are found innocent) the
things related to the alleged criminal activity.

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ed_balls
I'm talking about "proof for the money". The burden is on you to prove to
source, taxes etc.

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ssijak
They can ask me for proof for tax purposes, but they can not TAKE THE MONEY
AWAY on the spot. If I can not prove the source of the money, they can give me
a fine after the process, without taking that money.

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turboturbo
Off-topic: the website showed me (EU resident) an alert saying that they’re
sorry that I don’t trust them with my personal data (because I unselected all
data sharing in their GDPR consent screen on a previous visit). And then I got
shown the consent form again. Tacky!

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joejerryronnie
As an EU resident, you should prepare to have this maddening, awkward
experience with most of the websites you visit from now on.

