Highway robbery? Texas police seize black motorists' cash, cars
The Constitution clearly prohibits the forfeiture to government of life, liberty, or property without due process, yet the asset forfeiture laws prescribe that very thing. Predictably, there are abuses, citizens lose their property, and law enforcement becomes no different from highway robbers.
When will someone challenge this type of thing in the Supreme Court? It's high time the Constitution was put back in place as the cornerstone of our liberty, and the government quit using excuses like the so called "war on drugs" to circumvent it.
That's because the police here allegedly have found a way to strip motorists, many of them black, of their property without ever charging them with a crime. Instead they offer out-of-towners a grim choice: voluntarily sign over your belongings to the town, or face felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes.
Officials in Tenaha, situated along a heavily traveled highway connecting Houston with popular gambling destinations in Louisiana, say they are engaged in a battle against drug trafficking and call the search-and-seizure practice a legitimate use of the state's asset-forfeiture law.
The Constitution clearly prohibits the forfeiture to government of life, liberty, or property without due process, yet the asset forfeiture laws prescribe that very thing. Predictably, there are abuses, citizens lose their property, and law enforcement becomes no different from highway robbers.
When will someone challenge this type of thing in the Supreme Court? It's high time the Constitution was put back in place as the cornerstone of our liberty, and the government quit using excuses like the so called "war on drugs" to circumvent it.