Pubdate: Sun, 18 Jul 2004
Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Page: B3
Copyright: 2004 Madison Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/506
Author: Sunny Schubert
Note: Schubert is a member of the State Journal editorial board.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

ESCALADE ESCAPADE' LEGAL - BUT WRONG

Columbia County Sheriff Steve Rowe says it's perfectly legal for him to 
drive around in a used Cadillac Escalade his department seized from a drug 
dealer.

It may be legal, but that doesn't make it right.

He also says the Cadillac cost the taxpayers nothing. That's not exactly 
true: It's diverting money that ought to be going into the state school 
fund. In fact, cases similar to Columbia County's "Escalade escapade" have 
diverted at least $7.5 million from the school fund in the past four years 
alone.

Police and prosecutors are circumventing a state law which requires that 
items seized during a criminal investigation be forfeited in state court 
and the money turned over to a state school fund. With federal government 
help, they've found a way to keep most of the goodies for themselves.

It all started with the war on drugs, when the Drug Enforcement 
Administration began seizing boats, cars, houses and cash used by drug 
smugglers and dealers, then selling them to finance DEA operations.

Local police were also making drug-related seizures. Wisconsin prosecutors 
were supposed to file forfeiture actions in state court and turn the money 
over to the school fund. But the locals soon found that if they brought the 
feds in on a case, the DEA or the U.S. Attorney's office would handle the 
forfeiture actions, thus relieving local prosecutors of an unwelcome 
burden. The feds -- after keeping 20 percent off the top -- would turn the 
proceeds back to the police agencies themselves. The school fund was out of 
the loop.

Defense attorneys compare this deal to piracy. "It's the same system that 
was used on British naval ships during the Revolution," says Madison lawyer 
Steve Hurley. "They paid the sailors by letting them keep the loot they 
took off ships they seized. It's law enforcement getting a direct, monetary 
reward from the work they do."

Hurley tells of a man who solicited a prostitute who turned out to be an 
undercover officer; the police seized his car. In New Jersey, a teen-ager 
sold drugs while driving the family car; the car was seized even though it 
didn't belong to the teen. That case, still in the court system, could 
result in New Jersey's civil forfeiture law being declared unconstitutional.

Defense attorney David Mandell says it's not uncommon for someone to be 
arrested, have his or her assets seized, but never be convicted -- or even 
charged -- of a crime. "I had a case where a couple was arrested, the cops 
took a large amount of cash from them, but they were never charged -- and 
of course, they never got the cash back." Hurley concurs: "I can't tell you 
how many times I've settled these kinds of cases by saying OK, you can keep 
the car, keep the house, just drop the charges.' I've also had cases where 
my guy gets acquitted but still doesn't get his stuff back."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth Altman says, "It is our general policy that we 
want to see convictions" in property seizure cases and adds "by federal 
law, there must be criminal behavior" before any seizure is made. Still, 
she concedes that some defendants may not be charged nor convicted but 
still lose their property.

The Dane County Sheriff's Department received $258,396 and eight cars in 
2003 through seizure actions. Sheriff Gary Hamblin says the money and cars 
were shared with other police departments. He says the process holds down 
taxpayer costs for policing.

But letting cop shops keep the booty they seize from criminals (and 
sometimes from non-criminals) circumvents not just the state law that says 
such money is supposed to go to the school fund, but the legislative 
process itself. The judicial branch, which includes police officers, isn't 
supposed to determine what it gets to spend -- that's up to the executive 
and legislative branches of government. When cops and prosecutors act like 
pirates, they violate the separation of powers.

It's highly unlikely that the Columbia County Board would have allowed Rowe 
to buy a Cadillac Escalade with taxpayer money. It's even less likely that 
the Portage School Board would have chipped in. But that, in effect, is 
what happened. And it happens all over Wisconsin.

It may be legal, but that doesn't make it right. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake