Replies to post #21844 on Economic Collapse

[crazy horse 0]

These people still get voted in

but we know that is rigged as well.

[crazy horse 0]

Richland’s $4.1 million police station funded by civil forfeiture

Another Corrupt Police Force

By Steve Wilson | Mississippi Watchdog

The Mississippi city of Richland has a new $4.1 million police station, a top-level training center and a fleet of black-and-white Dodge Charger police cars.

All of it was paid for through civil forfeitures of property and cash seized during traffic stops of what police say were suspected drug runners on Interstate 20.




TEARFULLY DONATED: The sign for Richland’s $4.1 million police station, which was paid for entirely by civil forfeiture.

Civil libertarians question the constitutionality of civil forfeiture, which has become a key part of revenue for state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide. Under the laws of many states, citizens can be deprived of their property or even cash if police merely suspect the owners to be involved in criminal activity.

Mayor Mark Scarborough and police chief WR “Russel” James of Richland — population 7,033 and located south of Jackson on I-20 in Rankin County — say they’re not only giving city taxpayers a bargain, but they’re also helping do their part to stem the heavy drug trade that travels between Texas and Atlanta on I-20, which eventually trickles down to smaller cities like theirs.

Lee McGrath, legislative counsel for the libertarian Institute for Justice, said the tide is turning on civil forfeiture in the nation.

Both Montana and New Mexico have reformed their civil forfeiture systems, and former Attorney General Eric Holder announced a number of changes in civil forfeiture at the federal level.

“Why legislative efforts (to reform civil forfeiture) in Mississippi and across the nation will ultimately succeed is because forfeiture is contrary to basic American principles,” McGrath said. “In Mississippi and across the United States, the American people believe a person is innocent until proven guilty. And so should his property. Forfeiture is contrary to that.

“The American people believe in a separation of power between the legislative branch and the executive branch. Forfeiture is contrary to that as well. Forfeiture gives law enforcement and other members of the executive branch the sword and the purse. When those two combine, there is a high probability of corruption.”

In Mississippi, the Institute for Justice gives Mississippi a D-plus for its laws on civil forfeiture. The state needs only a preponderance of evidence that the property is related to a crime, a lower standard than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard required for a criminal conviction. McGrath said property owners in Mississippi can be acquitted in a criminal proceeding, but still lose their property since those claims are contested in civil court, where the burden of proof is on the property owner, not the state.

The state also doesn’t require police to collect or report data on forfeiture use or proceeds.


http://watchdog.org/218867/civil-forfeiture/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=trending_21