Two unrelated events recently took place that caused the term “civil asset forfeiture” to trend on social media.
The latest occurred at Dallas Love Field Airport, when a K-9 officer named Ballentine
alerted his handler to a bag belonging to an unnamed 25-year-old Chicago woman on layover. A subsequent inspection revealed that it contained two large bubble envelopes filled with $106,829 in cash.
The money was confiscated and law enforcement advised local media that it would be subject to the civil asset forfeiture process. The CBS Dallas-Fort Worth affiliate reported that Ballentine received “high praise” for his efforts.
In a similar incident earlier this year,
Nevada Highway Patrol removed nearly $87,000 in cash from retired Marine Sergeant Stephen Lara, 39, during a routine traffic stop. It was taken on the basis that he fit the profile of a drug trafficker.
Lara’s money was handed over to the Drug Enforcement Administration via a controversial federal program called “equitable sharing.”
The cash represented his entire life savings, and he’s now suing for its return.
Both cases have a number of things in common. Neither the former Marine nor the Chicago woman were arrested. Neither were even suspected of a crime. Both were free to proceed on their way.
Nonetheless, government agents robbed both victims of their money.
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution provides that “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
In addition, the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court case of Katz v. United States held that searches performed absent a warrant "are per se unreasonable," and are "subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions."
- Search Incident to Lawful Arrest
- Items in Plain View
- Consent Searches
- Stop-and-Frisk
- Automobile Exception
- Hot Pursuit and Exigent Circumstances
Less common exceptions include:
- Caretaker Function
- Impounded Vehicles
- Probation and Parole Searches
- School Searches
- Open Fields
- Border Searches
Of all these exceptions, none could reasonably apply to the case of the Chicago woman. Two may have applied to the former Martine — automobile searches and possibly consent searches (assuming he gave the state trooper his consent.)
But neither exception should apply to the subsequent seizure.
There’s no question but that it’s unusual to carry sums like $87,000 or more in cold, hard cash. But it’s not illegal.
Popular blogger and humorist David Burge, who writes under the name Iowahawk,
listed numerous reasons people may legitimately carry huge sums of cash.
Washington Examiner senior commentary writer
Becket Adams concluded that the official government thinking today is: “seems suspicious. better steal it!”
The current asset forfeiture law was written, at least in part, by then-Senator Joe Biden
who bragged in 1991 that “We changed the law so that ... the government can take everything you own. Your car, your house, bank account ... Everything.”
And you don’t even have to be arrested for them to steal it.
And this would be the same Joe Biden that now wants the
IRS to monitor bank accounts with transactions exceeding $600 — which would include pretty much all U.S. bank accounts.
If Biden wants to investigate large, suspicious cash transactions, he could start with the
$1.7 billion ransom paid to Iran for the release of four American hostages in early 2016 — made entirely in cash. Not a check, not a wire transfer, not even a 7-Eleven money order — pallets of cash.
But that was done by the Obama-Biden administration.
The early American patriot Thomas Paine believed that “The greatest tyrannies are always perpetuated in the name of the noblest causes.”
At this stage Biden doesn’t even bother with the “noblest causes” thingie — he just goes right for the brass ring and commits the “greatest tyrannies.”
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. Read Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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