In Ontario (Attorney General) v. Norwood Estate, 2021 ONCA 493, Ontario's Attorney General argued for a vast expansion of the scope of Ontario's civil asset forfeiture scheme. In smacking down the province's Attorney General, Justice David M. Paciocco didn't mince his words. "Ontario’s interpretation [of s. 18.1 of the Civil Remedies Act] is illogical and incoherent." "In … [Read more...]
Utah Senate Slams Door on Civil Asset Forfeiture Loopholes
Civil asset forfeiture is the legal procedure for seizing your assets without the tedious requirement of convicting you, the hapless property owner, of a criminal offence. If it were anyone but government officials doing the stealing, this would be called theft. Because it’s government, their lawyers call it a ‘victimless prosecution’ where the property, not the property … [Read more...]
Motor City Madness: Are Detroit’s Civil Forfeiture Abuses Coming to Canada Next?
On February 4, 2020, The Institute for Justice filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Detroit, hoping to end the Motor City’s “seize and ransom” vehicle program. Detroit’s policing for profit scheme is very lucrative, as all money received through civil forfeiture goes directly to the police department responsible for the seizure. “Wayne County has seized more than … [Read more...]
Phil Hewkin’s Cartoon Says It All…
Phil Hewkin is an artist and a gun owner. He believes, as I do, that owning private property should not land you in prison, nor should it cost you your life savings or your family home. All three of those things happened to Ontario gunsmith Bruce Montague. Well, to be precise, the last of the three, the theft of the Montague family home using Ontario's Proceeds of Crime Act, … [Read more...]
Donna Montague Speaks Out on Criminal Case Against Her Husband
My name is Donna Montague. I am married to former Ontario gunsmith Bruce Montague. I have had Enough! I am thoroughly disgusted! It is bad enough that the news media reports inflammatory positions about Bruce without verifying their data ….. but the “JUDICIARY” is doing it too. Now that the trial is over I can speak. The search of our home: First off, there … [Read more...]
Bruce Montague’s Response to Forfeiture Order
By now you must all be aware of the ruling we received from the appeal court of Ontario a couple of days ago. I am not really surprised that we lost but I am surprised that they decided to increase my punishment by also stealing my ammunition. As bad as this ruling is, our lawyers at the CCF (Canadian Constitution Foundation) found some encouraging aspects to it. There are a … [Read more...]
Gunsmith Bruce Montague, Dr. Henry Morgentaler and Abortion Law
That may seem an odd title but it will make sense shortly. The Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in R. v. Montague, 2014 ONCA 439, in which the government's desire to seize Bruce Montague's complete firearms and ammunition collection came to its unjust conclusion. Ontario's Court of Appeal heard arguments for and against the forfeiture of over $100,000 of … [Read more...]
Civil Asset Forfeiture and the Lack of Due Process
I've written on civil asset forfeiture a lot lately and in response to my latest article, BC Civil Asset Forfeiture Office Proud to Steal From Mere Citizens, I received a email from Zoey DeGarmo asking if I would post an information graphic on my website. The infographic, created by ArrestRecords.com, goes into great detail of the abuses of civil asset forfeiture laws across … [Read more...]
BC Civil Asset Forfeiture Office Proud to Steal From Mere Citizens
My wife, bless her heart, cuts out articles from the newspaper for me. I'm sure she thinks she's doing me a favour, but most of the time the articles she cuts out just make my blood boil, such as the article she cut out for me the other day titled "BC Forfeiture Office Defends Its Record" by Ian Mulgrew. In Mulgrew's article the head of of BC's Civil Asset Forfeiture … [Read more...]
Minnesota’s Courageous Reform of Civil Asset Foreiture Law
Five years ago scandal over the horrific abuse of Minnesota's civil asset forfeiture law rocked the state. Their Metro Gang Strike Force (disbanded in the wake of the scandal) among others, grossly abused the power given them by the state's civil forfeiture legislation, giving way to these reforms. The Metro Gang Strike Force didn't care who they stole from. Anyone was fair … [Read more...]
Civil Asset Forfeiture Finally Hits The Right Mark
Justice comes in many forms, but the delicious irony of the seizure of a former Sheriff's vehicle using civil asset forfeiture law is almost too good to be true. This past January in New Mexico 21-year-old Sylvia Solano crashed her car into a brick wall. A breathalyser test pegged her blood-alcohol level at 3 times the legal limit and police booked her for Driving While … [Read more...]
Common Sense Finally Prevails in Russ Caswell’s Civil Forfeiture Nightmare
Russ Caswell, now 70, spent the last two years fighting local, state and federal agencies over who owns Motel Caswell, the motel owned by his family since 1955. I first wrote about Russ Caswell and his civil asset forfeiture nightmare on July 1, 2012 when his case broke internationally. From that article: It is now, like many older motels across the nation, home to … [Read more...]
Canadian Constitution Foundation comes to Montague Family’s aid
The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) will take on Bruce & Donna Montague’s case after Doug Christie’s death left them without counsel to fight property forfeiture under Ontario's Civil Forfeiture Law. The Canadian Constitution Foundation (http://www.theccf.ca) announced today that it would provide legal counsel to Bruce and Donna Montague of Dryden, Ontario in … [Read more...]
Under Agenda 21 “Property Seizure” is Seen as “Profit-Sharing” by Jane Gaffin
Canada's Constitution is the supreme law. Any law passed by any federal, provincial, or territorial government that is inconsistent with the constitution is invalid. The next highest law in the pecking order of paramountcy is the Criminal Code of Canada and the same rules of law apply--or should apply--under the Criminal Code as with the Constitution. The Safer … [Read more...]
Does the Yukon Territory really need a pseudo-police department to deal with drug dealers, bootleggers and prostitutes?
Does the Yukon Territory really need another layer of bureaucracy to do the job the RCMP is already paid to do? Apparently, the answer to that question is a resounding YES! according to Yukon’s Parliament. If that shocks you, you’re not alone. “There oughta be a law! What? There already is? Since when?” We already have laws against drug dealing, bootlegging and … [Read more...]
Russ Caswell’s Civil Forfeiture Nightmare
Russ Caswell is 68 years old. He has not been charged with a crime, yet the Tewksbury, Massachusetts, Police Department is using civil forfeiture laws to steal both his livelihood and his retirement estate. Russ Caswell owns and operates his family-owned motel called, oddly enough, the Motel Caswell. It’s not the Ritz but that’s to be expected given the motel was built by … [Read more...]
The ongoing abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws
When policing devolves from solving crimes to seeing how much private property police can seize from citizens there is something very wrong with the focus of our nation, yet under civil forfeiture laws this is precisely what’s happening across Canada and the United States. Like most laws, civil asset forfeiture has, at its heart, good intentions. As the saying goes, … [Read more...]