Civil Asset Forfeiture Racket: Cops Seize Familys Business and Life Savings Without Criminal ChargesBy Lily Dane Civil asset forfeiture is a nasty legal loophole that allows government thugs to steal your property without charging you with a crime. They can seize your cash, car, bank accounts, jewelry and even your home or business without arresting you for doing anything wrong. Under this racket, the government proceeds directly against your property. An individual doesnt need to be convicted of a crime, so criminal procedure does not apply. And because the forfeiture is against the property, the owner is a third party claimant in related court proceedings. Your Fifth and Fourteenth amendment rights dont apply in these cases. It is, in essence, legalized theft. It can be VERY expensive and VERY time consuming to fight to get your property back. Sometimes, the cost of a case is more than the value of the goods stolen, and often people cant afford to fight back at all. The Institute for Justice the National Law Firm for Liberty has taken on the case ofMed-West, a highly-regarded cannabis wholesale distributorin California. From the press release: Without warning, everything changed in January 2016, when San Diego police and agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency raided Med-West and shut the business down. The officers refused to recognize Med-Wests legal status andwithout charging anyone with a crimethey seized everything from the business, including $324,000 in business proceeds. But the legal nightmare was only beginning for James and his family. Watch the cops raid Slatics business here, and listen to him tell his story. Ive done nothing wrong, said James Slatic. Its beyond frustrating that my familys money was taken without any criminal charges being filed. My wife and teenage daughters had nothing to do with my business whatsoever, and the District Attorney took their college savings accounts. This is not just wrong; it is unconstitutional. IJ Attorney Allison Daniel, who is representing the Slatics, said, Civil forfeiture is one of the greatest threats to property rights in the nation. Civil forfeiture takes the American principle of innocent until proven guilty and flips it on its head, treating property owners worse than criminals by making them prove their innocence. The District Attorneys Office and San Diego police and sheriffs departments collect millions of dollars a year under the asset seizure racket. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in September that requires criminal convictions before law enforcement agencies can keep most seized assets, but the new law does not go into effect until January, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune. Both of the major political parties in the US support civil asset forfeiture reform, reports IJ: This year, the party platforms for both the national Republican and Democratic parties endorsed forfeiture reform. As the Republican Party explains in its platform, civil asset forfeiture was originally intended as a way to cripple organized crime. But today, it has become a tool for unscrupulous law enforcement officials, acting without due process, to profit by destroying the livelihood of innocent individuals, many of whom never recover the lawful assets taken from them. Similarly, the Democratic Party platformcalls to to protect people and remove perverse incentives for law enforcement to police for a profit. In 43 states and under federal law, once a property has been forfeited, law enforcement agencies can keep anywhere between 45 to 100 percent of the proceeds. Revenue has skyrocketed since those policing for profit incentives were enacted. In 2014, deposits in the Assets Forfeiture Fund for the InJustice Department totaled$4.5 billion. A federal appeals court ruled on August 16, 2016, thatDepartment of Justice (DOJ) cannot spend budget money to prosecute people who grow, sell or use medical marijuanaif they comply with state law. The 25 states whove found themselves subject to continuous raids in spite of medical pot being legal should, in theory, be safe now. If the federal government prosecutes such individuals, it has prevented the state from giving practical effect to its law,Circuit Judge Diarmuid OScannlain wrote for the court. Unfortunately, this ruling occurred too late for Slatic and his family. On November 8, Californians voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana for adults over 21. The majority of Americans support legal marijuana, according to several recent polls. Yet, the DEA continues to refuse to remove the plant from Schedule I. It remains illegal at the federal level. It shares Schedule I status with heroin, LSD, and methaqualone (Quaalude) and it is more strictly regulated than the powerful prescription painkillers that have killed more than 165,000 people since 1999. To date, not one person has died from a cannabis overdose. The article Prohibition, Politics, and Profit: The Truth About Cannabis and Why Government Wants to Control Itprovides a detailed history of cannabis and the truth about why it is still illegal at the federal level (and will likely remain so). An excerpt: The DEA runs acannabis eradication program that providesfunding to 128 state and local law enforcement agencies. Its purpose is to aggressively search for, seize, and destroy illegal marijuana grows across the US. In 2015, federal spending on the program was$18 million, consistent with levels seen in previous years. That works out to a cost-per-plant of $4.42.Last year,local, state, and federal authorities uprooted roughly 4.1 million cultivated marijuana plants in all 50 states. Who pays for this? Americans do. Much of the money the DEA uses to run their operationcomes from theJustice Departments asset forfeiture program, which is controversial itself: under this program, police can seize your property without charging you with a crime. In 2014, the government seized $4.5 billion from citizens thats morethan the total value ofassets that were stolen by criminals the same year. In other words, more assets were taken by law enforcement than by thieves. In 2014, via the DEAs program, 4,300,833 plants were seized, 6,310 arrests were made, andthe value of assets seized from cultivators totaled$27,342,950.59. As you can see, the federal government has a lot to lose if cannabis is fully legalized. For-profit prisons and the pharmaceutical industry also do not want to see cannabis legalized because it would result in substantial financial losses for both industries. The seizing of the Slatic familys assets has nothing to do with fighting crime and everything to do with padding the pockets of the San Diego police department and the DEA.In the nine months since the raid, the District Attorney has not brought criminal charges against the Slatics or anyone associated with Med-West. Despite this, the DA has left the familysmoney in legal limbo, refusing even to begin legal proceedings in which the Slatics could prove their innocence. A victory in this case will result in the return of the familys money and will uphold the principle that no American should lose his or her property without being convicted of a crime. Contributed by Lily Dane of The Daily Sheeple. Lily Dane is a staff writer for The Daily Sheeple. Her goal is to help people to Wake the Flock Up! This is when you kill all involved. DINGDINGDINGDING!!! Thats the correct answer! Is there any doubt left in anyones mind that these men and women are NOT peace officers, but Road Pirates?? Does anybody know what the fate of captured pirates used to be?? The term for road pirates is HIGHWAYMEN, BTW. Probably 90% of the people you mention the term Highwayman to will scratch their head and wonder what the heck youre talking about. But say pirate, and nearly everyone knows what you mean, an evil, wicked and blood thirsty criminal. Thats way more appropriate than someone who only wants to rob you of your money and jewels. When people lose everythingthey lose it! -Gerald Celente So much for OATH keepers. Who put this bandit trash into office? Were they elected by the people or chosen by the Evil One!This evil should have been eliminated before it gained such control!!! Who put this bandit trash into office? Those we are not allowed to criticize? I promise you faithfully, I had nothing to do with Oslumbo being in office nor any of his anti-GOD Muslim cohorts, did you, smart a? Testing O Holy One, who do your think you are to test?? I am banned from various places. A few minutes ago; 7 hours ago Removed As long as it is with JESUS CHRIST and HIS followers, I will be happy to suffer and be banned with HIM and HIS people for life everlasting!! By the way who holds the records for Satan? Are they clutched in his filthy hand or does he have helpers for that? Oh yes, how do you know this?????????? As long as it is with JESUS CHRIST and HIS followers, I will be happy Jesus said Give to Caesar, turn the other Cheeks and justice By the way who holds the records for Satan? Are they clutched Oh yes, how do you know this? I get all of my news concerning GOD from HIS WORD called the BIBLE, not the internet!! I believe the internet is your news source!! Fooled are you, by the Fudaics. What will you say when you stand before HIM and HE asks you about the events of your life, including HIS WORD. That day will come and you will have no answer, if you do not change!! Are you talking about a tyrant that was assigned to this universe? GOD created this universe, it is HIS just as if you had made house, but then you did not make the materials for the house, GOD did. He grew the trees for the wood. HE made you!!!! He made your body and ran the blood through the blood vessels, and breath into your lungs Feeding and rearranging this universe, I think HE has done a perfect job, the failures are all of mankind, who HE gave a choice to do good or evil, but there are rewards for both, though some are not rewards we want, at least, for our deed of evil!!! HE did not leave us lacking, what HE loves and what HE hates are listed in HIS WORD By the way, are you questioning or baiting? are you GOD or a sinful man trying to make a better world? By the way, are you questioning or baiting? are you Some basics; before the year 1,100 AD, most people Life arose from chemical possibilities. A sinful woman trying to make things a little better! That sounds silly. Choice arises from confusion. Good grief, I am confused, a continual relapse of the mind from birth! Is it completely hopeless?? You sound confused, what is theworld coming to? Total confusion and Satanism?? NO GOD will not allow that , HE will send HIS SON for HIS people and then ..read Revelation 21-22!! If you dont believe you are in for some great surprises!!! If you dont believe you are in for some great surprises!!! Belief is motivated by fear. When there is clarity, When you get down to the nitty gritty, i believe it is what we fear that makes the difference. I think my greatest fear is my great granddaughter never getting to know the real America. All she will ever know the insanity that we have allowed it to become because too many wound not speak up and act, we have allowed the enemy to rule, far too long!!!!!! Caught up in manufactured news and desires, Will Globalized (Rothschild) Banking be eliminated? I am not familiar with that one, therefore cannot answer the question!!! Puzzled, I watched as young Sikhs became elated on Obamas election. The CEO of the marketing company was interviewed . .. I hope every single one of these corrupt law enforcement bastards in the US pay for what they have done, in full-on Karmayou despicable human garbage if ever there was a case for citizen violence.. This is another in a long list of abuses and usurpations committed in the name of law and order. Only there is no law and order, Only sanctioned piracy and thuggery. 