Skip navigation
Criminal Legal News
Prison Profiteers - Header
× You have 2 more free articles available this month. Subscribe today.

Cops in Missouri Exploit Loophole to Seize $2.6 Million from Innocent Citizens

Loaded on May 15, 2020 by Douglas Ankney published in Criminal Legal News June, 2020, page 49
Filed under: Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA). Location: Missouri.

by Douglas Ankney

According to St. Louis Public Radio, police in Missouri abused a civil asset forfeiture scheme to seize at least $2.6 million from motorists during traffic stops in 2018.

St. Charles County cops stopped people for minor traffic violations and directed the drivers to a private lot owned by Superior Towing.

Officers searched the vehicles and claimed that drug-sniffing dogs detected the odor of marijuana on the occupants’ cash.

Cops then informed the unfortunate citizens that they had two options: go to jail or sign away their possessions to the police department and leave with a traffic ticket.

Of the 39 traffic stops, one-third were conducted after midnight. While no criminal charges were filed, almost half the drivers had Hispanic or Asian surnames.

State law requires a criminal conviction before forfeiture. But the cops exploited the federal Equitable Sharing program, which allows the cops to seize assets without a conviction as long as the feds get a 20 percent cut. Legislation was introduced by Representative Shamed Dogan to close the loophole and force cops to comply with state law. But the bill was defeated due to extensive opposition by a local police lobby.

Dogan, a libertarian Republican, has attempted for several years to reform the illegitimate practice of seizing assets from people who haven’t been convicted of any crime. 

 

Source: reason.com

As a digital subscriber to Criminal Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.

Subscribe today

Already a subscriber? Login

More from this issue:

  1. Racism and Wrongful Convictions, by Matthew Clarke
  2. Sixth Circuit Grants Habeas Relief After Michigan Court Violates Confrontation Clause, by Dale Chappell
  3. Ninth Circuit: Mental Impairment that Prevented ‘Monitoring’ of Habeas Counsel’s Actions May Require Equitable Tolling, by Dale Chappell
  4. Tenth Circuit Vacates District Court’s Order Sealing Plea Supplement, Explaining Local Court Rule Doesn’t Abrogate Common Law Right of Access to Judicial Records, by Douglas Ankney
  5. Federal Judge Issues Order Reducing 40-Year Stacked § 924(c) Sentence Based on First Step Act Changes to Compassionate Release, by Chad Marks
  6. Latest Forensic Technology, Pattern Analysis, May Be ‘Pseudoscience’, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
  7. SCOTUS: Jury Verdicts Must Be Unanimous to Convict on Criminal Charges, Overruling Apodaca, by Douglas Ankney
  8. ATF: What Is a Gun?, by Jayson Hawkins
  9. Michigan Supreme Court Announces that Duress May be Asserted as an Affirmative Defense to Felony Murder, Overruling Gimotty and Etheridge, by Douglas Ankney
  10. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Failure to Include ‘Or Others’ in Jury Instruction for Self-Defense Against Multiple Assailants Deprived Defendant of Defense, by Dale Chappell
  11. Virus Vigilantes v. Virus Violators: Shunning, Shaming, or Policing COVID-19 May not Be the Cure, by Michael Fortino, Ph.D
  12. SCOTUS: Due Process Doesn’t Require States to Adopt a Specific Test for Determining Insanity, by Douglas Ankney
  13. Fifth Circuit: Defendant Lacked Culpability in Attempting to Export Ammunition by Merely Purchasing It, by Anthony Accurso
  14. Iowa Supreme Court Vacates Guilty Plea for Lack of Evidence and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, by David Reutter
  15. Second Circuit: Habeas Petition Not Moot Where It Attacked Inactive Original Order That Gave Rise to Current Active Order Restraining Petitioner’s Liberty, by Douglas Ankney
  16. Federal District Court Finds ‘Confusion’ Over Law in State Court Excused Late Filing of § 2255 Motion, by Dale Chappell
  17. Seventh Circuit Reiterates IAC Requires Only ‘Reasonable Probability,’ Not ‘More Likely Than Not,’ of Different Outcome, by Dale Chappell
  18. Divide and Conquer: New Algorithm Examines Crime-Scene Bullets Segment by Segment
  19. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Files Statement on Court’s Refusal to Hear Habeas Case, Despite Deep Circuit Split, by Dale Chappell
  20. SCOTUS: Knowledge that Driver’s License of Vehicle’s Registered Owner Was Revoked Provides Reasonable Suspicion to Initiate Traffic Stop, by Douglas Ankney
  21. Don’t Allow Government to Abuse Emergency Powers After COVID-19 Threat Subsides, by Douglas Ankney
  22. Notorious Louisiana Prosecutor Fired for Misconduct Technicality, by Edward Lyon
  23. Illinois Supreme Court: Failing to Stipulate Felon Status Allowing Jury to Hear About Murder Conviction Constitutes IAC, by Anthony Accurso
  24. 10th Circuit: Evidence Insufficient to Support Conviction for Attempting to Kill Witness, by Douglas Ankney
  25. $369,000 Settlement in Police Raid of Journalist’s Home and Office
  26. Delaware Supreme Court Clarifies Meaning of ‘Mixture’ as Used in State’s Controlled Substances Act, by Douglas Ankney
  27. Colorado Supreme Court: Defendant Has No Duty to Bring Himself to Trial, by Douglas Ankney
  28. Fifth Circuit Finds IAC for Failure to Object to Court’s Jury Instructions that Constructively Amended Indictment by Lowering Government’s Burden of Proof, by Dale Chappell
  29. Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Cronic’s Presumption of Prejudice Triggered by Counsel Failing to Secure Interpreter for First Day of Trial, by Douglas Ankney
  30. U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Fifth Circuit’s Rule Barring Plain-Error Review of Unpreserved Factual Arguments, by Dale Chappell
  31. Ohio Supreme Court Announces New Standard for ‘Actual Racial Bias’ for Jurors and Holds Counsel Was Ineffective for Failing to Strike Racially Biased Juror, by Douglas Ankney
  32. FBI’s Long History of Squelching Political Dissent Under the Guise of National Security, by Jayson Hawkins
  33. No Consequences for Prosecutors’ Bad Behavior, by Jayson Hawkins
  34. Utah Supreme Court: Dismissal of Second Post-Conviction Petition Improper Where First Petition Voluntarily Withdrawn, by Douglas Ankney
  35. Nevada Supreme Court Rules Bail Determination Requires Due Process and Severs Unconstitutional Language from Bail Statute, by Douglas Ankney
  36. Federal Court Overturns Conviction for Person Linked to Former Subway Spokesperson’s Child Porn Case, by Dale Chappell
  37. Study Sheds Light on ‘Recidivism’ and Probation and Parole Violations, by Dale Chappell
  38. California Court of Appeal: Unoccupied Running Vehicle Doesn’t Justify Warrantless Search of Residence, by Douglas Ankney
  39. Utah Residents Can Wind Up in Jail When They Miss Loan Payments, by Kevin Bliss
  40. Interpreting Emojis as Court Evidence, by Anthony Accurso
  41. LAPD Officers Accused of Entering Names of Innocent People Into Gang Database, by Douglas Ankney
  42. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Clarifies Standards for Exit Order and Patfrisk, by Anthony Accurso
  43. ‘No-Knock Raids’ an Increasing Danger to Public Safety, by Jayson Hawkins
  44. A Mass Purge of Misconduct Records by Phoenix, Arizona Police, by Bill Barton
  45. Cops in Missouri Exploit Loophole to Seize $2.6 Million from Innocent Citizens, by Douglas Ankney
  46. How Old Is That Fingerprint?, by Douglas Ankney
  47. News in Brief

More from Douglas Ankney:

More from these topics:

 

 

Stop Prison Profiteering Campaign Ad 2
Advertise Here 2nd Ad
Prisoner Education Guide side