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Reining in asset forfeiture abuses

With so many Texas law enforcement agencies having become overly dependent on asset forfeiture income to make ends meet, last Sunday, Howard Witt the Chicago Tribune focused on an example that's almost a caricature of that trend: the East Texas town of Tenaha, where black motorists were allegedly threatened with criminal prosecution if they didn't sign over their property.After the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee examined the problem in an interim study, Chairman John Whitmire last week filed SB 1529 to reform the state's asset forfeiture laws. The bill forbids:prosecutors as well as police from requesting or inducing someone to sign a waiver of property rights until after forfeiture proceedings have been initiated in court.using forfeiture funds for campaign contributions, alcohol, judicial training, or donations to nonprofits unrelated to public safety...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on March 15, 2009 (boomark / email).