Legalized Highway Robbery
Thugs with badges here:
"TENAHA, Texas — You can drive into Tenaha, a dusty fleck of a town near the Texas-Louisiana border, if you're African American. But you might not be able to drive out — at least not with your car, cash, jewelry or other valuables.
That's because police have stripped motorists, many of them black, of their property without charging them with a crime. Instead, out-of-towners were offered a grim choice: Sign over your belongings to the town or face felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes.
More than 140 people reluctantly accepted that deal from June 2006 to June 2008, according to court records. Among them were a black grandmother who surrendered $4,000 in cash after Tenaha police pulled her over, and an interracial couple who gave up $6,000 after police threatened to seize their children and put them into foster care, court documents show.
Neither the grandmother nor the couple was charged with or convicted of a crime.
Officials in Tenaha, along a heavily traveled state highway connecting Houston with several popular gambling destinations in Louisiana, said they are engaged in a battle against drug trafficking, and they called the search-and-seizure practice a legitimate use of the state's asset-forfeiture law.
That law permits local police to keep drug money and other property used in the commission of a crime and add the proceeds to their budgets.
"We try to enforce the law here," said George Bowers, mayor of the town of 1,046 residents, where boarded-up businesses outnumber open ones and City Hall sports a broken window.
That's because police have stripped motorists, many of them black, of their property without charging them with a crime. Instead, out-of-towners were offered a grim choice: Sign over your belongings to the town or face felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes.
More than 140 people reluctantly accepted that deal from June 2006 to June 2008, according to court records. Among them were a black grandmother who surrendered $4,000 in cash after Tenaha police pulled her over, and an interracial couple who gave up $6,000 after police threatened to seize their children and put them into foster care, court documents show.
Neither the grandmother nor the couple was charged with or convicted of a crime.
Officials in Tenaha, along a heavily traveled state highway connecting Houston with several popular gambling destinations in Louisiana, said they are engaged in a battle against drug trafficking, and they called the search-and-seizure practice a legitimate use of the state's asset-forfeiture law.
That law permits local police to keep drug money and other property used in the commission of a crime and add the proceeds to their budgets.
"We try to enforce the law here," said George Bowers, mayor of the town of 1,046 residents, where boarded-up businesses outnumber open ones and City Hall sports a broken window.
"We're not doing this to raise money. That's all I'm going to say at this point."
posted by nolocontendere at 11:04 PM
2 Comments:
... said they are engaged in a battle against drug trafficking, and they called the search-and-seizure practice a legitimate use of the state's asset-forfeiture law.
Ah yes, the wonderful drug war has given cops all the excuses they need for acting like fascist war criminals and petty dictators. There is no better excuse for such fascist criminal behavior on the part of government officials than protecting communities and children from the evils of illegal drugs. What heroes these guys must be in their little backyards, genuine legends in their own minds.
Always the children, isn't it nick?
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