Man Says Oklahoma Police Seized $140K From Him Without Cause

[Disir]

A New Mexico man says Oklahoma sheriff's deputies seized more than $140,000 from him and his business partner on baseless suspicion of drug trafficking, and a local news outlet found the records to back up his story.

Last week, Oklahoma news outlet News 4 reported that Thai Nang, a New Mexico businessman, claimed that the Canadian County Sheriff's Office seized roughly $141,500 in cash from him and his partner during a traffic stop in April.

Nang says he and a business partner were traveling to buy a piece of land when they were pulled over. Sheriff's deputies searched the car and found the money. Nang alleges that when he tried to explain that it was for a property purchase, a deputy responded, "I'm 300 percent sure that's illegal money."

There's nothing illegal about traveling with large amounts of cash, but police often claim it's the fruits of drug trafficking. Under a practice called civil asset forfeiture, police can confiscate property suspected of being connected to criminal activity, even when the owner hasn't been charged with a crime.

Man Says Oklahoma Police Seized $140K From Him Without Cause

A New Mexico man says Oklahoma sheriff's deputies seized more than $140,000 from him and his business partner on baseless…

reason.com

I'm hoping that this leads to reform. You can't just take money because you believe that it is drug money. You should be able to provide evidence. No evidence then you don't get to take it.

 

[Moonglow]

Another civil rights violation that the people on the right care nothing about.

 

[SavannahMann]

Civil Asset Forfeiture is one of those things, one of a long list IMO that is way overdue for some serious reform.

The idea behind it when it was started was to hurt the drug kingpins in their wallets. But like every single other example of giving the police a power, or finding an exception to a Civil Right, it was abused, almost instantly.

Many cities even have it as a line item in their budgets. They have to seize a certain amount of money from people to actually cover expenses for their police departments.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/10/11/asset-seizures-fuel-police-spending/

Now, that clearly shows that this is no longer a part of the war on drugs, or crime, or whatever we are warring against this week. It is theft. Plain and simple theft.

Even if you pretend to remove it from the line item in your budget, you’re still counting on this source of revenue to fund your police. It is an estimate of income.

Policing for profit is never a smart way to go.

So what is the difference between a city council demanding that their police provide millions of dollars for the organization, and a mafia boss demanding his minions provide the same money to the organization?

 

[SavannahMann]

As an update on this thread. The Supreme Court had ruled on this.

Supreme Court Restricts Police Authority To Enter A Home Without A Warrant

At the center of the case was a man whose guns were confiscated from his home. Justice Clarence Thomas noted the recognition that officers perform many civic tasks but they're not open-ended.

www.npr.org

People mock me for belonging to both the ACLU and the NRA. I have explained it many times. All your rights are intertwined. They weave through each other to form a net restraining the power of the Government. Holding the Government back.

When you pluck one string from the net, more of the Government power is able to stretch through to abuse you. In this case, the second amendment rights were tied to the Fourth Amendment. Your right to be secure in your person or papers from intrusion.

Each of your rights depends on each of the other protections. You can’t weaken one, without weakening them all.

 

[woodwork201]

Another civil rights violation that the people on the right care nothing about.

I'm on the right and I care. If a cop stole my money on the side of the road, he'd be no different, in my eyes, than a thug robbing me at gunpoint at an ATM.

That the Supreme Court allows this to continue - the leftist Supreme Court - is the biggest shame of our government, bigger than any other crime our Courts have permitted against the people of the United States.

 

[woodwork201]

Supreme Court Did Not Rule on Civil Asset Forfeiture – Investment Watch

www.investmentwatchblog.com