Pubdate: Mon, 21 Oct 2013
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2013 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Justin Pearson
Page: 12A
Note: Justin Pearson is the executive director of the Institute for
Justice Florida Chapter and is one of the attorneys who represented
Tony Jalali in his fight to save his family's property from civil 
forfeiture.

POLICING FOR PROFIT IS A NATIONWIDE EPIDEMIC

Over $4 billion - that is the amount seized by the government using
forfeiture laws - in 2012 alone. And the government often seizes money
and property from people it knows have done nothing wrong.

Here in South Florida, the Bal Harbour police got so carried away that
the Department of Justice shut them down. The police did little actual
crime-fighting, but seized properties in over a half-dozen states
and spent the proceeds on first-class flights, luxury hotels, fancy
restaurants, flat-screen TVs and a $ 21,000 beach
party.

Civil forfeiture is when the government takes your cash, home or
property even though you have never been accused or charged with any
crime. To get your property back, the burden is on you to prove in
court that your property is innocent, resulting in bizarre case names
like United States v. One Solid Gold Object in the Form of a Rooster.

Even worse, the proceeds of these seized properties usually go
straight to the budgets of the agencies who took them. These perverse
incentives lead police around the nation to focus more on seizing
property than fighting crime.

Russ Caswell has never been charged with or even accused of any crime,
but the government attempted to seize his family's mortgage-free
motel in Tewksbury, Mass. because about15 customers had been arrested
for drug crimes over a 14- year period. This was no higher than
neighboring properties, but those properties either had mortgages or
were part of large chains.

The property, valued at over $ 1 million, was the one the government
wanted. The Institute for Justice was able to help Russ fight back and
win.

Tony Jalali owns a small office building in Anaheim, Calif., and has
never been charged with or convicted of a crime.

After California legalized medical marijuana dispensaries, Tony rented
space to two dispensaries. As soon as the federal government notified
him that it still considered the dispensaries to be illegal, Tony
kicked the last dispensary out.

The government still tried to take his $ 1.5 million, mortgage-free
property. IJ defended Tony's building from the government's grasp, but
most owners aren't so lucky. As long as the police are allowed to
profit from taking your property, this nationwide problem will only
get worse. No one in America should lose their property without being
convicted of a crime. Civil forfeiture needs to be outlawed in its
entirety.
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MAP posted-by: Matt