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Title: South Carolina Police Hauled in $17 Million Through Civil Asset Forfeiture Over Three Years
Source:
Reason
URL Source: https://reason.com/blog/2019/01/29/ ... lina-police-hauled-in-17-milli
Published: Jan 29, 2019
Author: C.J. Ciaramella
Post Date: 2019-01-30 06:19:30 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 771
Comments: 10
South Carolina police seized more than $17 million over a three-year period according to a comprehensive joint investigation by the The Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail. The news outlets scoured roughly 3,200 civil asset forfeiture cases across South Carolina. The results, the reporters say, "yielded a clear picture of what is happening: Police are systematically seizing cash and property—many times from people who aren't guilty of a crime—netting millions of dollars each year." Nearly a fifth of the 4,000 people who had their property seized by South Carolina police between 2014 and 2016 were never arrested nor even charged with a related crime. Under typical civil asset forfeiture laws, police can seize cash, cars, houses, and other property suspected of being connected to criminal activity even if the owner is never convicted of a crime. That's what happened to Isiah Kinloch, a North Charleston resident. While Kinloch was hospitalized for a head injury after fighting off a robber, police searched his apartment and found an ounce of marijuana and $1,800 in cash. Kinloch used the marijuana to manage pain resulting from a severe car accident, and he said the cash was from his work as a tattoo artist and cobbler. He was charged with possession with intent to distribute, but the charges were eventually dropped. Kinloch's cash, however, was forfeited—gone. "The robber didn't get anything, but the police got everything," Kinloch told The Greenville News. The investigation's findings track with what other media outlets and advocacy groups have found across the country, and what has led more than half of U.S. states to pass some form of asset forfeiture reform over the past decade. Law enforcement groups say asset forfeiture is a vital tool to disrupt drug trafficking and other organized crime by cutting off the flow of illicit proceeds. The investigation notes that Myrtle Beach police and prosecutors used civil forfeiture to hamstring a sophisticated drug ring. However, civil liberties groups say asset forfeiture has far too few protections for property owners, who must bear the cost of going to court and, in states that have yet to reform their laws, prove that their property was not connected to illegal activity. And the perverse profit incentive leads police to go fishing for petty seizures just as often, if not more, than drug lords. For example, there's the case of Ella Bromell, an elderly woman in Conway, South Carolina. Police and city officials tried to seize her house through civil asset forfeiture because of small drug deals taking place on her property, even though she was not connected in any way to the sales and had repeatedly tried to get rid of the dealers. That's what civil asset forfeiture looks like on an individual level in South Carolina. Here's what it looks on a macro scale, according The Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail investigation: As I mentioned, this is roughly in line with what numerous other investigations of state and local asset forfeiture programs have revealed. In 2017, Reason reported that Cook County, Illinois, had seized $150 million over a five-year period. The median value of those more than 23,000 seizures was $1,049. Seizures were also clustered in poor and minority neighborhoods. Civil asset forfeiture records obtained by Reason from Mississippi revealed a case in which police stripped the furniture from a woman's apartment, including lamps and a couch. All of her property was eventually returned in a court settlement, except for the couch. Both of those states passed stronger reporting requirements for asset forfeiture and strengthened protections for property owners. In South Carolina, however, asset forfeiture reform bills have failed to make any headway in the state legislature. South Carolina received a D+ grade for its lax civil asset forfeiture laws from the Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning public interest law firm that has challenged forfeiture laws in several states. One big obstacle to reform is opposition from law enforcement agencies, which pad their budgets with forfeiture revenue. Poster Comment: "The robber didn't get anything, but the police got everything," Kinloch told The Greenville News.
Most of the money isn't coming from kingpins or money laundering operations. It's coming from hundreds of encounters where police take smaller amounts of cash, often when they find regular people with drugs for personal use. Customers, not dealers. More than 55 percent of the time when police seized cash, they took less than $1,000.
Your cash or property can disappear in minutes but take years to get back. The average time between when property is seized and when a prosecutor files for forfeiture is 304 days, with the items in custody the whole time. Often, it's far longer, well beyond the two-year period state law allows for a civil case to be filed. But only rarely are prosecutors called out for missing the filing window and forced to return property to owners.
The bulk of forfeited money finances law enforcement, but there's little oversight of what is seized or how it's spent. Police use it to pay for new guns and gear, for training and meals, and for food for their police dogs. In one case, the Spartanburg County sheriff kept a top-of-the-line pick-up truck as his official vehicle and sold countless other items at auctions.
"Officers gather in places like Spartanburg County for contests with trophies to see who can make the largest or most seizures during highway blitzes," The Greenville News writes. "They earn hats, mementos and free dinners, and agencies that participate take home a cut of the forfeiture proceeds."
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
We need to be funding our WALL with drug assets seized over the border.
I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
Attaboy - keep cheering police state Amerika. Nearly a fifth of the 4,000 people who had their property seized by South Carolina police between 2014 and 2016 were never arrested nor even charged with a related crime. Gee, I thought in this country you are innocent until proven guilty? Not surprising that a former AGW like you would support stealing from innocent citizens.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. Police state? HAAAAAA We can’t even police from being an illegal spic state. Get the fuck outta-here with your fear monger propaganda
I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
Who died and made you the site's content nanny? I will continue to post articles of interest. You don't like it? Tough shit.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. I’m sure you will. Keep that AGENDA alive. lol
I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
I'll take that as your tacit support for police robbing innocent citizens. Attaboy!!
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. ? ? ? ?
Si vis pacem, para bellum Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. Never Pick A Fight With An Old Man He Will Just Shoot You He Can't Afford To Get Hurt "If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." (Will Rogers) "No one ever rescues an old dog. They lay in a cage until they die. PLEASE save one. None of us wants to die cold and alone... --Dennis Olson " AMERICA! Designed by geniuses. Now run by idiots.
Not that I care to much. But yeah right. You believe that shit? Poor victim had his pain medication stole.
AGW = Armed Government Worker.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. Thanks for the reply !
Si vis pacem, para bellum Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. Never Pick A Fight With An Old Man He Will Just Shoot You He Can't Afford To Get Hurt "If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." (Will Rogers) "No one ever rescues an old dog. They lay in a cage until they die. PLEASE save one. None of us wants to die cold and alone... --Dennis Olson " AMERICA! Designed by geniuses. Now run by idiots.
#2. To: GrandIsland (#1)
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#3. To: Deckard (#2)
keep cheering police state Amerika.
#4. To: GrandIsland (#3)
Get the fuck outta-here
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#5. To: Deckard (#4)
I will continue to post articles of fear mongering
#6. To: GrandIsland (#5)
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#7. To: Deckard (#2)
" AGW "
#8. To: Deckard (#0)
Kinloch used the marijuana to manage pain resulting from a severe car accident
#9. To: Stoner (#7)
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#10. To: Deckard (#9)
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