God bless the drug war.

You don't have the right to cash, citizen! That's awfully suspicious!

Investigators don't know if they will be able to connect the money to a drug operation, Hanson said, but the important work already has been done.

"The big thing is he grabbed 69 (thousand dollars) and took it away from them," Hanson said of the money seized. "That's going right straight to the heart of the matter."

wait, so they just took some guy's $69k and are keeping it? how does that happen?

God bless America.

Fourth Amendment, not yours

So they seized this guy's cash during a traffic stop for crime he didn't commit (or else they would have ticket him) and have no way to connect it to any kind of drug activity. And then they just let the guy go along his marry way, saying "Don't speed again?" This is either horrible reporting on the matter or all kinds of farked up.

Somehow, having a lot of cash now equals having something to do with drugs. No evidence required, and good luck ever getting the money back.

Civil Asset Forfeiture

Biggest citizen-farking farce of a law I've ever heard of. It's a revenue grab that is hard to defend yourself against, plain and simple. They take your money/property and the burden of proof is on YOU rather than the government. It costs a lot of money to fight it, which is 'convenient' for the government that just took all your money.

kingMountain: wait, so they just took some guy's $69k and are keeping it? how does that happen?


Ahhhh, this has been going on for nearly 20 years. If you are found in possession of $12,000 or more in cash, the police can confiscate it without proof of a crime.

In some states (Florida) if you're caught playing poker with a few friends and using real money (even loose change) they can confiscate your home and sell it at auction.

In nearly all states (there are a few exceptions) if a corporation/developer wants your home/property and can prove they when they develop it the property will generate more tax revenue than it currently does, you must sell it to them. You cannot say no. It doesn't matter if your home has been in your family for 300 years, you must sell it to the corporation for a fair market price. In the case of a state taking your property for public use, THEY get to set the sales price.

In many states if you're caught with drugs in your car (even small amounts) or moonshine liquor (untaxed) they can confiscate your car and sell it at auction.

Welcome to the land of Freedumb and Dumbocracy.

Maryland wants to take the unused balance of your gift cards after one year. In other words, someone gives you a VISA gift card and you don't get around to using it, the state of Maryland wants to be able to take your unused money.

Lets apply that logic to other things. Oh, haven't driven your car or truck in a while? We're taking it and selling it a auction, we can use the money!

Have a vacation home you haven't visited in a year? Oops, now it's state property sorry...

Own a dirt bike, jet ski, snow mobile you haven't used in the last year? Oops state property.

Oh, it appears you have a savings account balance you haven't touched in the last year. Thanks for your donation to the state!

It will start with the cards and WILL move on to other personal property.

When I was 16, my father took one of his bonuses from work and cashed it to purchase a car I wanted.

The check was from something like $12,000 and the bank wouldn't let him leave with the full amount because they were worried about him getting stopped by the police and getting the money taken from him. He had to take $9,500 in cash and the rest deposited.

The way the manager at the bank explained it (and granted this was more than 10 years ago), anything over $10,000 in cash is considered direct evidence to drug money and is able to be immediately seized by the police without any form of due process. The manager said he's never heard of a situation where anyone was able to get their cash back.

This was also in a small town where pretty much everyone knew each other, even the small police force, yet they were required to take the money. It didn't matter if the officer had known you for years and knew exactly why you had the money - they didn't want to risk screwing up and attracting federal involvement.

Con_Authority: Maryland wants to take the unused balance of your gift cards after one year. In other words, someone gives you a VISA gift card and you don't get around to using it, the state of Maryland wants to be able to take your unused money.

Lets apply that logic to other things. Oh, haven't driven your car or truck in a while? We're taking it and selling it a auction, we can use the money!

Have a vacation home you haven't visited in a year? Oops, now it's state property sorry...

Own a dirt bike, jet ski, snow mobile you haven't used in the last year? Oops state property.

Oh, it appears you have a savings account balance you haven't touched in the last year. Thanks for your donation to the state!

It will start with the cards and WILL move on to other personal property.

You missed a major source of revenue. Exercise equipment. So of that shiat has not been used in decades. And weights and benches never go out of style.

Also, it needs to be added that this lede FTFA:

Christmas came early last year for a new Kimball County Sheriff's deputy.

Is by far one of the worst ledes I've ever seen given the subject of the story and it would surprise me greatly to learn that the reporter has ever stepped foot in a journalism classroom.

I've seen PR majors write better lede's than that.

A lede like that on this story at the J-school I went to would garner you a big fat F and some one-on-one discussions with the professor about reporting ethics.

Wait a minute! That was $169,040!

Can't a person just say, "Ummmm no, you're not taking that". ?

gorgor: Can't a person just say, "Ummmm no, you're not taking that". ?


Nope, because only dirty drug dealers carry cash around.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to say, "What freedoms have you lost?"

And also - if you haven't broken any laws you don't have anything to worry about do you?

It continues to astonish me that incidents of this sort have not been challenged and the law that permits them to take place defeated.

Just one more reason I don't live in Massa.... oh... Nebraska.

Anti-cop headline trifecta now in play.

/just left the Boston thread

Didn't this just happen (for $400k) to a guy who killed an intruder in his home?

Guilty of nothing. $400k confiscated.

Fellows: Also, it needs to be added that this lede FTFA:

Christmas came early last year for a new Kimball County Sheriff's deputy.

Is by far one of the worst ledes I've ever seen given the subject of the story and it would surprise me greatly to learn that the reporter has ever stepped foot in a journalism classroom.

I've seen PR majors write better lede's than that.

A lede like that on this story at the J-school I went to would garner you a big fat F and some one-on-one discussions with the professor about reporting ethics.


Were you sick on the day they taught people about "set foot"?

"In nearly all states (there are a few exceptions) if a corporation/developer wants your home/property and can prove they when they develop it the property will generate more tax revenue than it currently does, you must sell it to them. You cannot say no. It doesn't matter if your home has been in your family for 300 years, you must sell it to the corporation for a fair market price"

I believe your information is outdated. After the SCOTUS decision stating that those determinations were to be made by the States, the States (Maybe a few exceptions) now have laws against the developers taking your land.

. . . Guilty until proven innocent . . .
Ahhh - the American way.


unless you're rich . . . and white . . .
Ahhh - the American way.
.

Fellows: Also, it needs to be added that this lede FTFA:

Christmas came early last year for a new Kimball County Sheriff's deputy.

Is by far one of the worst ledes I've ever seen given the subject of the story and it would surprise me greatly to learn that the reporter has ever stepped foot in a journalism classroom.

I've seen PR majors write better lede's than that.

A lede like that on this story at the J-school I went to would garner you a big fat F and some one-on-one discussions with the professor about reporting ethics.

lede?

Nothing new. This legal theft has been going on for years.

I'm suprised more people don't go postal on police stations when stuff like this happens.

If you had your house auctioned for playing poker, would you really just be content writing a letter to the editor or spending years in court?

And also - if you haven't broken any laws you don't have anything to worry about do you?

Unless you are carrying 10,000.01 in Cash. Then you have plenty to worry about.

i wouldn't mind this so much if the government had to prove they were guilty of something before taking it. its innocent until proven guilty not the other way around.

/fark the police

gorgor: Can't a person just say, "Ummmm no, you're not taking that". ?

That's a tazerin!

gorgor: Can't a person just say, "Ummmm no, you're not taking that". ?

That be a tazerin .....

Approve.

UnkleKrakker: lede?

Journalism term for the first paragraph.

Con_Authority: In nearly all states (there are a few exceptions) if a corporation/developer wants your home/property and can prove they when they develop it the property will generate more tax revenue than it currently does, you must sell it to them. You cannot say no. It doesn't matter if your home has been in your family for 300 years, you must sell it to the corporation for a fair market price. In the case of a state taking your property for public use, THEY get to set the sales price.

Claims like this are the reason I don't take what I read on the internet at face value.

SpinStopper: Somehow, having a lot of cash now equals having something to do with drugs. No evidence required, and good luck ever getting the money back.

But the U.S. is definitely NOT a police state - just ask any of Fark's Freeper brigade.

Land of the free, baby.

JohnBigBootay: I'd just like to take this opportunity to say, "What freedoms have you lost?"

And also - if you haven't broken any laws you don't have anything to worry about do you?

Due process, privacy, and personal property

Pretty sure this has been going on for a while. Know a guy who had 8-9k taken off of him (I can't remember which) from a casino win. He ended up getting it back after a lot of fighting, though.

Honestly, most cash or drug seizures I've heard about are the direct result of the driver being stupid.

Out of state plates?
Rental car?
Speeding?
Expired tags?
No brake light?

Sorry but if you're going to transport drugs or money across state lines you need to do a better job, guys.

kingMountain: wait, so they just took some guy's $69k and are keeping it? how does that happen?

Well, first you erode people's rights, and then, you end up with a police state.

shoegaze99: It continues to astonish me that incidents of this sort have not been challenged and the law that permits them to take place defeated.

They have been challenged and lost in the courts.

Generally the rule is money has no rights. So "arresting" the money without probable cause is fine, and you have to prove you didn't illegally obtain it.

The guy will probably have to spend 10k on lawyer fees to get it back.

gorgor: Can't a person just say, "Ummmm no, you're not taking that". ?

That's a tasin' (or a shootin').

pauly99: unless you're rich . . . and white . . .
Ahhh - the American way.

If you are carrying $69k in cash, you are pretty rich. That is a LOT of folding money!

When I was 16, my father took one of his bonuses from work and cashed it to purchase a car I wanted.

Why in the hell would your dad tote around that kind of cash? Did he think the car salesmen would be impressed and give him a better deal? Ask them for a cashier's check -- spends the same, has a few protections, and doesn't look suspicious.

vernonFL: Honestly, most cash or drug seizures I've heard about are the direct result of the driver being stupid.

Out of state plates?
Rental car?
Speeding?
Expired tags?
No brake light?

Sorry but if you're going to transport drugs or money across state lines you need to do a better job, guys.

5/10

sort of believable, but easy to spot

czarangelus: Police are thieves

Police are just the biggest, meanest, most heavily armed gang in the United States. They're knuckle-dragging thugs and ought to be met with armed resistance.

Weak. Too obviously a troll. You should try to be more subtle in the future.

UnkleKrakker: lede?

I learned something new! I'd always called it a lead, but I guess you can call it a lede (pops).

The manager said he's never heard of a situation where anyone was able to get their cash back.

The lawyer I work for was able to once. We normally do family stuff, but the adult son of one of our clients had 85 grand confiscated (and this actually was drug money) and he got it back. The caption for those cases are fun it's like United States Department of Justice vs. Eighty Five Thousand Dollars United States Currency. Good times.

Oh, and a house that's been in your family for three hundred years would never be taken by eminent domain, not because city councils are nice or anything, but because something that old is probably on a historic register.

Wasn't there a story not to long ago when a women who owned a plant shop gave her employees like 10K in cash to go to a plant auction only to be stopped and the money taken. I think it cost her over $5K to sue the police department to get the money back.

lede:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lede_%28news%29#Terms_and_structure

Engel pulled over a Salt Lake City, Utah, resident whom he suspected of speeding on Interstate 80 had the nerve to drive with out-of-state plates near the town of Kimball.

FTFM.

/ Same thing happened to me in middle-of-nowhere, Kansas.
// I was suspected of crossing the white line. Bull.
/// "Mind if I search your car?"
// I had maybe $1.69 in my car, and no fun plants, so he let me go.

czarangelus: Police are thieves

Police are just the biggest, meanest, most heavily armed gang in the United States. They're knuckle-dragging thugs and ought to be met with armed resistance.

You first tough guy.