Being required to tell the state everything you own is not being secure in one's home and effects.
For some other examples
of infringements of 5th Amendment rights check out the examples here
or
visit a very good site for this type of information......F.E.A.R
Judy,
Did you know there were 52,000 unlawful confiscations of citizens
property this past year due to unconstitutional forfeiture laws?
Source: The MacAlvany Intelligence Adisor.
Ed
52,000 Americans, mostly honest, law-abiding citizens, have experienced a lot of abusive seizures and forfeitures in the past year alone; thousands more have been jailed. Never say never--in 1993 (or beyond) it could be you or your family. Just a few of these cases are discussed below:
*In Maryland, a member
of the Carroll County Narcotics Task Force disguised as a UPS driver
delivered a parcel containing a small quantity of marijuana to the
owner of a 54-acre estate. The county is
now seeking to seize the entire estate. One
task force member commented during the bust, that the property
"would make a great police retreat."
From the Seattle Times, 6/23/93, page A5:
Donald Carlson
is a casualty in the war on drugs, shot three times by federal agents who
were looking for a cocaine stash at his home.
Still in pain
from his wounds, Carlson told Congress yesterday he thinks his $260,000
San Diego residence was one motivation for the fed's raid. If they
had found cocaine - they didn't - the authorities could have invoked the
civil asset-forfeiture laws and seized his property.
The paid infromant
who provided the bad information has now been indicted, but that's small
solace to Carlson.
"I am afraid that
I now agree with many people who believe that there is some insidious motivation
permeating the war on drugs which causes agents and their supervisors to
feel that they can conduct themselves in any manner they see fit in the
name of the war on drugs," Carlson said.............. Rep. Henry Hyde,
R-Ill., said they "are being used in terribly unjust ways, are depriving
innocent citizens of their property with nothing that can be called due
process."
end quote
I know a former
DEA agent, and his attitude is the same as those federal agents at Idaho
and Waco who showed such a low regard for the civil rights of American
citiznes. They think their cause is so just that they have
the right to ignore state and federal constitutions, and, they think most
American's are the enemy.
There's another example
of government abuse of seizure laws that's receiving a lot of attention
in Seattle. The Treasury Department has allowed until April 15 for the
victim to appeal to get back his property. Letters and calls to treasury
may
help, although pressure from our senator and some congresspersons have
only resulted in more charges and threats.>>>
Willem Eickholt's sailboat,
the Hatuey, was seized on March 15th when he returned from donating powdered
milk to Cuba. The Customs Department has declared that Mr. Eickholt,
a Dutch citizen, was guilty of "trading with the enemy". His explanation
that he had neither bought nor sold anything were ignored. Customs had
no search warrant, yet searched his boat three times, including once with
dogs. They were determined to find illegal cargo, especially drugs, but
could find none. They seized his boat anyway. He must now post bond and
hire an attorney to try to get it back. Although they would not tell him
what the procedures are lawyers tell him that the Treasury Department gets
to decide whether the Treasury Department had sufficient grounds to take
his boat.
If you would like more
info, you can call or write Will at:
19407 1st Ave. So., Normandy
Park, WA 98148, (206) 878-SAIL.
Subject: Drug Seizure Laws Unconstitutional
The laws
that the Government has passed to fight the "War On Drugs" are Draconian
and have stripped the Bill of Rights down to almost nonexistence. The right
of a prosecuter to accept the word of an "informant" as gospel without
checking it out and then seizing someone else's property as a result is
tyranous.
The British used to do
the same to the American colonies. The Writs of Assistance were tools
custom agents used that gave them permanent search warrants to ransack
homes, boats and warehouses with impunity.
Often, as now, the agents
planted illegal contraband so they could seize all the property of the
poor target of their tyranny. John Hancock, one of the signers of
the Constitution was a merchant who had his vessel seized by British custom
agents who claimed they found goods that hadn't had the duties on them
paid. John Adams was the lawyer who defended him and eventually
got his vessel returned.
This was the reason John
Hancock was chosen as one of the signers of our Constitution. He was a
well known merchant who was dealing in illegal contraband. The Writs of
Assistance were used mercilessly, as the Drug Seizure Laws are used now,
and were the spark that eventually led to the revolution against the British.
The idea of Drug Seizure
Laws is to strip drug dealers' profits from drugs and make it unprofitable.
However the laws are being read so liberally that they are being used to
rob the houses, cars and bank account of people who are merely users of
drugs.
The laws do not require
the person to be charged with crime for the seizure to take place, hence
the seizure becomes the only intent of the police. The money they get does
not go into the till of the public, but the police get to keep everything
they seize for their department. This gives them the incentive to seize
everything they can by applying the law as liberally as they can.
A Bill of Attainder is
a legislative act which inflicts the consequences of attainder( or a conviction
of a crime) upon a person without a judicial trial. The U.S. Constitution
requires that a bill of attainder shall not be passed (Art. 1, sec 9).
A seizure of property
for a criminal act without a conviction violates the prohibition of a bill
of attainder. If a person is convicted of a drug crime, then the seizure
is valid, but if he is not convicted or even charged with a crime,
but has his property seized, then he has been inflicted with the consequences
of conviction without a conviction.
Some articles that are a bit long but deserve a look at for more information on forfeiture laws
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