RANT: Civil forfeiture needs to be abolished; only if people are convicted of a crime can their assets be taken

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/08/18/civil-asset-forfeiture-explained/74802279007/

Old legal quirk lets police take your money with little reason, critics say
Jeanine Santucci USA TODAY
Published 5:08 a.m. ET Aug. 18, 2024 Updated 11:46 a.m. ET Aug. 18, 2024

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Law enforcement was able to take the money through a controversial practice called civil asset forfeiture. Advocates against the practice say it amounts to legalized government theft, at times from ordinary, innocent Americans. 

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Civil forfeiture has been effectively eliminated in only North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico and Maine, according to the Institute for Justice. But dozens of other states have tried reforming their laws. Some have elevated the standard for burden of proof that law enforcement has to have to seize property. Others have improved the transparency of their procedures, Rulli said.

A federal loophole makes it easier for law enforcement agencies across the country to evade state reforms. The federal government isn’t beholden to state laws, Rulli said, so law enforcement agencies can call federal authorities in, which will seize property and split the profits with the local agencies.

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This is unConstitutional trickery that the Gooferment at all levels pulls on “We, The Sheeple”.

I find the Gooferment’s conduct immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

Hopefully you do too!

Argh!

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POLITICAL: Defund NPR — it’s only “fair”

Saturday, April 27, 2024

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/04/17/npr-liberal-bias-media-uri-berliner/73345296007/

NPR editor quit after telling the truth about liberal bias in media. It’s time to defund them.

  • NPR in recent years has gone from being something I enjoy to something that more often than not leaves me shaking my head.

Ingrid Jacques USA TODAY

2024-04Apr-17

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Here’s a solution: Defund NPR

NPR – National Public Radio – isn’t just another media outlet. It’s funded in part by taxpayers, which places it in a different position than say The New York Times, The Washington Post or even my news organization.

Private publications are free to do what they want, although I think more are waking up to the need for more viewpoint diversity. It’s simply a smart business decision to reach a broader audience.

While Berliner argues that NPR still deserves public funding, I disagree. 

He writes: “As the country becomes more fractured, there’s still a need for a public institution where stories are told and viewpoints exchanged in good faith.”

Yet, NPR is offering no confidence that it will embrace anything close to the viewpoint diversity that it now lacks. Its new CEO, Katherine Maher, is getting attention because of social media posts she made before she was hired, including calling former President Donald Trump a “racist sociopath” and boasting of wearing a Joe Biden campaign hat in public.

That doesn’t bode well. 

If NPR wants to double down on its woke mission, fine. But it shouldn’t do it on my dime – or that of other taxpayers. 

NPR claims that “federal funding is essential to public radio’s service to the American public and its continuation is critical for both stations and program producers, including NPR.”

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#DefundNPR

I don’t want to pay for much of what the Gooferment does.  So let’s start here!

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