26 May 06 04:20, Bob Ackley wrote to Ward Dossche:

 BA> Replying to a message of Ward Dossche to Bob Ackley:

 WD>> Bob,

 >>> So he has the court impound and sell a US Navy ship that happens to
 >>> be in harbor, or one of the Army bases the US maintains over there.
 >>> Bottom line is he'll get his money back, an option that is not
 >>> available to ordinary US citizens.

 WD>> Not even if you can demonstrate the legitimate origin of a large
 WD>> amount of cash?

 BA> Yep.  There have been several horror stories about cops confiscating
 BA> cash from people, although I haven't seen any recently.  They've come
 BA> up with something called 'administrative forfeiture,' which involves
 BA> no judge or court, just the unsupported assertion that the property
 BA> was used for some sort of illegal activity (originally drug trade,
 BA> but this has been expanded to include just about anything, some
 BA> cities want to confiscate the automobiles of men caught soliciting
 BA> sex from police decoy 'prostitutes' - the automobile was 'used in the
 BA> commission of a crime,' even if the owner parked it two blocks away
 BA> and walked up to the decoy).  The owner of the property must then
 BA> post a bond and file a court action to try to reclaim the property,
 BA> the standard of proof for the owner is much higher than that for the
 BA> police, in that the owner must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the
 BA> property was not used in the manner claimed, and the police only have
 BA> to say that it was.

So, to thwart that, you file a criminal complaint of 'conversion'...they
confiscated your property and are now holding it for ransom...two can play
the game.

 BA> For many years the simple assertion that cash tested positive for
 BA> drug residue was grounds to declare that it was drug money.  Of
 BA> course today, given the vastly increased sensitivity of the tests,
 BA> about 95% of the paper currency in circulation will test positive for
 BA> drug residue - including the cash in the judge's wallet.  This is
 BA> because the residue transfers by contact in cash drawers, wallets,
 BA> purses, ATMs and currency counting/sorting machines, not because it
 BA> was actually used in drug transactions.

 BA> Aren't you glad you don't live here?

 BA> --- FleetStreet 1.19+

Roy
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