cannabisnews.com: Do Guilt and Innocence Still Count in America? 





Do Guilt and Innocence Still Count in America? 
Posted by FoM on May 16, 1999 at 08:23:47 PT
Source: SF Gate
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS indeed. Impeachment foes Bob Barr, an anti-gay Georgia Republican, and openly gay Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank are lining up behind Henry Hyde, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Hyde has almost every member of his normally polarized panel backing a bill to fight what they call a shocking abuse of government power.
It's called civil asset forfeiture, which allows the police, in their ``war on drugs,'' to seize people's cars, houses, money, businesses or anything associated with an alleged drug crime. Police only need show ``probable cause,'' the same standard used to get a search warrant. But the person whose property is seized has to prove a ``preponderance of the evidence'' to get it back. In other words, the police can seize your house on suspicion, but you have to prove your innocence to get it back. Police can take your car without making any criminal charge or proving any guilt if they suspect a drug crime related somehow to your property. And you have to put up a 10 percent bond to even contest the seizure. Click the above link to read the whole article!
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