1.17.2015

Police State - Asset seizure

Holder limits seized-asset sharing process that split billions with local, state police - The Washington Post:

Well it's a start but it sounds like seizures will still be allowed under state laws.
While police can continue to make seizures under their own state laws, Equitable Sharing was easy to use and required most of the proceeds from the seizures to go to local and state police agencies. Some states have higher standards of proof for forfeitures and some require seized proceeds to go into the general fund.
That last sentence scares me. "Some states have higher standards". I'll bet some have lower standards too. And, it sounds like states can still run it as a profit center but maybe with more control over individual police departments. So maybe this helps. Maybe.

Somehow, I see a future where the states allow police departments to seize what they want,.. just like they do now. And get to keep part of the profit,.. just like they do now. The change will be that the states will just get a bigger cut and the Feds won't get any.

Seems like a step toward that libertarian paradise of limited Federal Government where state government cronies do all the same things the Feds did. The power brokers are a little closer to my area but they are still pretty far from me.

I think I'll wait a while to decide if this really changes anything.

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