How can we protect schools from invading marijuana zombie immigrants if we don't have the money to buy this awesome truck?
Civil forfeiture laws are insane. There is a long and slow-growing movement against such laws that has picked up speed over the past couple of years. States are beginning to at least attempt to curtail some of the clear abuses of allowing, and in most cases, necessitating that our law enforcement agencies fund themselves by shaking down the citizens they are sworn to protect. Tennessee is looking to make a few changes to their state's civil forfeiture laws and law enforcement is spitting mad.
Shelby County prosecutor Steve Jones, who also represents the West Tennessee Violent Crime and Drug Task Force, warned members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that changing the law could result in more crime. In his words: “The criminals will thank you.”
[my emphasis] Republican Senator Mike Bell did not take too kindly the Shelby County prosecutor Jones's language.
"It's almost like you were trying to set up that you're either for us or you're for the criminals," Bell shot back.
That's exactly what they are trying to do, Senator. In their defense, it's a rhetorical tactic honed and taught to them by your political party, but I digress:
The task force for Bradley, McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties in Bell's district once had a director who spent tens of thousands of dollars that could not be identified as legitimate task force spending. That included flowers, scented candles and local hotel rooms for himself and a female agent. Later, a former Cleveland detective charged in court that his efforts to determine whether the then-task force head had a drug problem led to his unfair firing. Earlier this month, former detective Duff Brumley won a Tennessee Appellate Court victory when judges said his appeal of the firing shouldn't have been dismissed by a Hamilton County judge and needs to be reheard.
So, reining in civil forfeiture law will help criminals while keeping civil forfeiture law as is will help foster law enforcement criminal behavior? Law enforcement's position on this issue is completely behind the times. How behind the times is it? The ACLU and Charles Koch are basically on the same page against civil forfeiture. If you can't play the ACLU and the Koch brothers off of one another on an issue, than you have officially lost that issue.