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...]
Oklahoma Highway Patrol takes Stealing From Citizens (Civil Forfeiture) to a Whole New Level
If it wasn't bad enough that civil forfeiture laws allowed cops to steal your property and your cash without a warrant and force you to "prove" it was not the proceeds of crime along comes the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. "If you can prove can prove that you have a legitimate reason to have that money it will be given back to you. And we've done that in the past," Oklahoma Highway … [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...]
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...]
Registration Leads to Confiscation and much worse… Just ask Ontario Gunsmith Bruce Montague
Sun News Commentator Brian Lilley did an excellent segment on how registration leads to confiscation in his January 8, 2013 installment of his show Byline. In that segment Lilley described the insanity of Ian Thomson being forced to defend himself against criminal charges for the so-called “crime” of defending his life against 4 men trying to kill him. He went on to … [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...]
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...]
Katey Montague’s new video on the Ontario Govt’s Seizure of Family Home
UPDATE: Thankfully, but for reasons nobody understands, the Ontario Government dropped its civil forfeiture action against the Montague family home. Katey Montague, the daughter of former Ontario gunsmith Bruce Montague, just released another video update on the decision by the Ontario Government to steal the Montague family home using Ontario's Civil Remedies … [Read more...]
Word of Montague Home Seizure by Ontario Gov’t Spreads
Bad news travels fast. So the old saying goes, I think. It's certainly true in the case of the Ontario government's intention of stealing the Montague family home while hiding behind the Civil Remedies Act's forfeiture clause for "proceeds of crime". I found a link to the case on some Canadian firearm chat boards, as well as on blogs across the country. My prayer is … [Read more...]
Crown Proceeds with Forfeiture Hearing on Montague Home
Ontario Crown Counsel is moving forward with their attempted theft of the Montague family home. Using the civil forfeiture provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act, senior counsel James McKeachie sent the following letter to the Montagues on September 17th. 17 September 2010 I am writing you to you directly because I understand from our previous communications that you … [Read more...]