####################################################################### THE LOOTING OF AMERICA By Jarret Wollstein How over 200 Civil Asset Forfeiture laws enable police to confiscate your home, bank accounts & business without trial. ####################################################################### "A police dog scratched at your luggage, so we're confiscating your life savings and you'll never get it back." In 1989, police stopped 49-year-old Ethel Hylton at Houston's Hobby Airport and told her she was under arrest because a drug dog had scratched at her luggage. Agents searched her bags and strip-searched her, but they found no drugs. They did find $39,110 in cash, money she had received from an insurance settlement and her life savings; accumulated through over 20 years of work as a hotel housekeeper and hospital janitor. Ethel Hylton completely documented where she got the money and was never charged with a crime. But the police kept her money anyway. Nearly four years later, she is still trying to get her money back. Ethel Hylton is just one of a large and growing list of Americans -- now numbering in the hundreds of thousands -- who have been victimized by civil asset forfeiture. Under civil asset forfeiture, everything you own can be legally taken away even if you are never indicted, tried or convicted of a crime. Suspicion of offenses which, if proven in court, might result in a $200 fine or probation, are being used to justify seizure of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property. Totally innocent Americans are losing their cars, homes and businesses, based on the claims of anonymous informants that illegal transactions took place on their property. Once property is seized, it is virtually impossible to get it back. Property is now being seized in every state and from every class of Americans. Seizures include pocket money confiscated from public housing residents in Florida; cars taken away from men suspected of soliciting prostitutes in Oregon; and homes taken away from ordinary, middle class Americans whose teenage children are accused of selling a few joints of marijuana. No person and no property is immune from seizure. You could be the next victim. Here are some examples: * In Washington, D.C. police stop black men on the streets in poor areas of the city, and "routinely confiscate small amounts of cash and jewelry". Most confiscated property is not even recorded by police departments. "Resident Ben Davis calls it 'robbery with a badge'." [USA Today, 5/18/92] * In Iowa, "a woman accused of shoplifting a $25 sweater had her $18,000 car -- specially equipped for her handicapped daughter -- seized as the 'getaway vehicle'." [USA Today, 5/18/92] * In December 1988, Detroit drug police raided a grocery store, but failed to find any drugs. After drug dogs reacted to three $1.00 bills in the cash register, the police seized $4,384 from cash registers and the store safe. According to the Pittsburgh Press, over 92% of all cash in circulation in the U.S. now shows some drug residue. * In April 1992, Dr. David Disbrow was accused of practicing psychiatry without a license. His crime was providing counselling services from a spare bedroom in his mother's house in Monmouth, New Jersey. Counselling does not require a license in New Jersey. That didn't stop police from seizing virtually everything of value from his mother's home, totalling over $60,000. The forfeiture squad confiscated furniture, carpets, paintings, and even personal photographs. * Kathy and Mark Schrama were arrested just before Christmas 1990 at their home in New Jersey. Kathy was charged with taking $500 worth of UPS packages from neighbors’ porches. Mark was charged with receiving stolen goods. If found guilty, they might have paid a small fine and received probation. The day after their arrest, their house, cars and furniture were seized. Based upon mere accusation, $150,000 in property was confiscated, without trial or indictment. Police even took their clothing, eyeglasses, and Christmas presents for their 10-year-old son. The incentive for government agencies to expand forfeiture is enormous. Agencies can easily seize property and they usually keep what they take. According to the Pittsburgh Press, 80% of seizure victims are never even charged with a crime. Law enforcement agencies often keep the best seized cars, watches and TVs for their "departments", and sell the rest. How extensive are seizures in America today? In April 1990, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Marshals Service alone had an inventory of over $1.4 billion in seized assets, including over 30,000 cars, boats, homes and businesses. Federal and state agencies seizing property now include the FBI, the DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Coast Guard, the IRS, local police, highway patrol, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, FDA, and the Bureau of Land Management. Asset forfeiture is a growth industry. Seizures have increased from $27 million in 1986, to over $644 million in 1991. In 1993, seizures exceeded $2 billion. Civil asset forfeiture defines a new standard of justice in America; or more precisely, a new standard of injustice. Under civil seizure, property, not an individual is charged with an offense. Even if you are a totally innocent owner, the government can still confiscate your "guilty" property. If government agents seize your property under civil asset forfeiture, you can forget about being innocent until proven guilty, due process of law, the right to an attorney, or even the right to trial. All of those rights only exist if you are charged with a criminal offense; that is, with an offense which could result in your imprisonment. If you (or your property) are accused of a civil offense (offenses which could not result in your imprisonment), the Supreme Count has ruled that you have no presumption of innocence, no right to an attorney, and no protection from double jeopardy. Seizure occurs when government takes away your property. Forfeiture is when legal title is permanently transferred to the state. To get seized property returned, you have to fight the full resources of your state or the federal government; sometimes both! You have to prove your property's "innocence" by documenting how you earned every cent used to pay for it. You have to prove that neither you nor any of your family members ever committed an illegal act involving the property. To get a trial, you have to post a non-refundable "bond" of 10% of the value of your property. You have to pay attorney fees -- ranging from $5,000 to over $100,000 -- out of your own pocket. Money you pay your attorney is also subject to seizure (either before or after the trial) if the government alleges that those funds were "tainted". And you may be forced to go through trial after trial, because under civil seizure the Constitutional protection against "double jeopardy" doesn't apply. Once your property is seized, expect to spend years fighting government agencies and expect to be impoverished by legal fees -- with no guarantee of winning -- while the government keeps your car, home and bank account. As bad as current asset forfeiture laws are, even worse laws may be just ahead. The Omnibus Crime Bill -- now before Congress -- gives authorities six-and-one-half years to return improperly seized assets to their rightful owners. (How much would your home or car be worth after six-and-a-half years without maintenance?) In California, legislation is now pending to seize the assets of any business that employs illegal aliens -- even if employers don't know they're illegals. And Clinton's "Health Security Act" makes it a federal crime for your doctor to accept money directly from you for 95% of all medical services. The penalty: confiscation of all of your doctor's assets, $50,000 fines, and 15 years in prison. Some Americans are fighting back against the police confiscations. Last year, state representative Maddy introduced a bill in California that would have allowed the government to confiscate million-dollar restaurants and $100 million hotels, if anyone alleges that a patron has committed a drug crime on the premises. A coalition of anti-forfeiture groups, led by San Francisco attorney Brenda Grantland, successfully defeated this bill, and forced California to eliminate other recent confiscation laws. In Washington, D.C. two excellent forfeiture reform bills – sponsored by Reps. Conyers and Hyde -- are now pending. Both bills would significantly curtail police confiscations. (The Justice Department is trying to block them). Finally four recent Supreme Court decisions have placed some restrictions on confiscations. Legal notice and a hearing are now required before homes can be seized. And the amount of property confiscated must now be "proportionate" to the seriousness of the alleged offense. Despite these positive steps, police confiscations continue to increase. Every week over 5,000 innocent Americans -- like you -- are now losing their cars, homes, bank accounts, and businesses. Only 3 in 100 confiscation victims ever get a trial. YOU could easily be the next target. The fight against civil asset forfeiture is a battle against tyranny in America. If forfeiture squads continue to expand, liberty and justice in America will become a fleeting memory. At the present rate of increase, within 17 years all property in America will be confiscated by the government You need to take steps NOW to protect yourself, and to help stop the looting of America. ====================================================================== Learn how to protect your home, bank accounts and business from police confiscations. ====================================================================== We strongly recommend privacy expert Michael Ketcher's book "The Closing Door: The end of Financial Privacy in America and how to protect yourself". In this-262 page privacy manual you'll learn legal, safe and ethical ways to protect your assets: How to store your valuables in a way that makes them nearly impossible for police to confiscate . . . how to legally buy gold and silver stored in Switzerland that has no U.S. reporting requirement . . . low-profile alternatives to your checking and savings account . . . and much more. Most of this information is available nowhere else. The Closing Door retails for $68, but it is available through ISIL for just $45. (plus $2.50 shipping & handling). Just one of the suggestions could protect everything you own. Order from the address below. Visa & Mastercard accepted ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This pamphlet is published by the International Society for Individual Liberty, Inc., an association of individuals in over 80 countries dedicated to protecting individual personal and economic freedoms, and promoting peaceful and compassionate reforms to government policies and structures. 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