Would that other newspapers were as forthright as calling for an end to “policing for profit” as the Grand Forks Herald. North Dakota is already considered to be one of the states that does best at curbing the abuse of civil forfeiture; adjoining Minnesota does less well.
One Comment
The wealthy owner of the Indianapolis Colts was lately arrested in Carmel, Indiana with scads of drugs and 29,000. He was allegedly driving erratically and unable to perform sobriety tests. He was treated politely according to the police account and there is no mention that he is being subjected to forfeiture of his money, much less his sports team.
Less than a year ago a few Chinese women were arrested in the same town for allegedly massaging the genitals of a cop who requested same on several occasions. The women and the business owner immediately had their bank accounts taken, and their cars, TVs, phones, and computers seized. They were, in effect, left without the means to even pay for their own defense attorneys.
Not that the administration of justice and application of asset forfeiture are applied unequally in America.