Bart Hinkle seems to like it:
Side effects may include seizures
It probably seemed like a bright idea at the time: Let the police seize the ill-gotten gains of alleged drug dealers and other suspected criminals and sell it, using the proceeds to buy much-needed crime-fighting gear.
Unfortunately, the process — civil asset forfeiture — did not require convicting anybody of a crime. In fact, it didn’t even require charging anybody with a crime. Not surprisingly, this led to rampant abuse, which has been abundantly documented for many years.
...
But Virginia lawmaker Mark Cole is going to give it another shot. That’s as good a sign as any that civil asset forfeiture has jumped the shark.
You can’t get much more conservative than Cole, a Republican who represents Spotsylvania in the General Assembly, without falling off the edge of the political spectrum.
...
On his website, Cole boasts of supporting law enforcement. “Public safety and emergency services are Mark Cole’s top priorities,” reads a quote from Stafford County Sheriff Charlie Jett. “He helped ensure that funding was available for pay raises for deputies and state troopers. He has been a strong voice for us in Richmond.”
But policing for profit has gone too far, even for Cole. In anticipation of the 2015 legislative session, he already has filed a bill (HB 1287) that would forbid asset forfeiture without a conviction — and even then only after all appeals have been exhausted.
...
Taking property from people who haven’t been charged with any crime is “fundamentally un-American,” Cole told the online news organ Watchdog.org.
...
Cole says he has heard from some commonwealth’s attorneys who think his bill would make their job harder.
The bill's language looks pretty good for a first step, but I think it needs work.
For one thing, I would like to see a mandate that if law enforcement damages, destroys, or loses illegally seized personal property, they shall be liable for damages.
And I have to be concerned when gun-hating Sheriff Jett is involved. No doubt his interests are incompatible with ours on this topic.
Side effects may include seizures
Quote:
It probably seemed like a bright idea at the time: Let the police seize the ill-gotten gains of alleged drug dealers and other suspected criminals and sell it, using the proceeds to buy much-needed crime-fighting gear.
Unfortunately, the process — civil asset forfeiture — did not require convicting anybody of a crime. In fact, it didn’t even require charging anybody with a crime. Not surprisingly, this led to rampant abuse, which has been abundantly documented for many years.
...
But Virginia lawmaker Mark Cole is going to give it another shot. That’s as good a sign as any that civil asset forfeiture has jumped the shark.
You can’t get much more conservative than Cole, a Republican who represents Spotsylvania in the General Assembly, without falling off the edge of the political spectrum.
...
On his website, Cole boasts of supporting law enforcement. “Public safety and emergency services are Mark Cole’s top priorities,” reads a quote from Stafford County Sheriff Charlie Jett. “He helped ensure that funding was available for pay raises for deputies and state troopers. He has been a strong voice for us in Richmond.”
But policing for profit has gone too far, even for Cole. In anticipation of the 2015 legislative session, he already has filed a bill (HB 1287) that would forbid asset forfeiture without a conviction — and even then only after all appeals have been exhausted.
...
Taking property from people who haven’t been charged with any crime is “fundamentally un-American,” Cole told the online news organ Watchdog.org.
...
Cole says he has heard from some commonwealth’s attorneys who think his bill would make their job harder.
The bill's language looks pretty good for a first step, but I think it needs work.
For one thing, I would like to see a mandate that if law enforcement damages, destroys, or loses illegally seized personal property, they shall be liable for damages.
And I have to be concerned when gun-hating Sheriff Jett is involved. No doubt his interests are incompatible with ours on this topic.
New Mark Cole bill would ban "Policing for Profit" Seizures
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