- "(why they were traveling with that much cash wasn't mentioned)"

You can read or watch their story here[0,1]. They're not shy about what happened to them—they sued the US government to get everything back (with the pro bono assistance of the nonprofit IJ).

[0] https://ij.org/press-release/pittsburgh-retiree-sues-federal... ("Pittsburgh Retiree Sues Federal Government to Get His Life Savings Back" (2020))

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsre7I0UUJA (" DEA & TSA Take $82,000 Life Savings From Pittsburgh Retiree")

- "Terry, 79, is a retired railroad engineer born and raised in Pittsburgh. For many years, he followed his parents’ habit of hiding money in the basement of their home. When Terry moved out of his family home and into a smaller apartment, he became uncomfortable with keeping a large amount of cash. Last summer, when his daughter Rebecca was home for a family event, Terry asked her to take the money and open a new joint bank account that he could use to pay for dental work and to fix his truck, among other needs..."

▲

plagiarist 7 months ago | parent [-]

In a functioning justice system the government might be able to place a temporary hold on the money, but would need to promptly return it when declining to press charges or on an acquittal. Literal theft.

▲

ch4s3 7 months ago | parent | next [-]

A functioning justice system in a free country has no legitimate reason to seize property without any prior suspicion of wrongdoing and an order from a court.

▲

sangnoir 7 months ago | parent [-]

> any prior suspicion of wrongdoing

That's still an incredibly low bar: the DEA agent may "smell marijuana on the person" or get a "hit" from a K9

▲

ch4s3 7 months ago | parent | next [-]

This has always felt incredibly thin to me and shouldn’t in my opinion constitute probable cause. It’s essentially a dousing rod with four legs.

▲

plagiarist 7 months ago | parent [-]

"Dousing rod" is a nearly perfect description except it doesn't quite convey the deliberate violation of civil liberties.

https://www.npr.org/2017/11/20/563889510/preventing-police-b...

	▲	ch4s3 7 months ago \| parent [-]
		That’s precisely what I mean. Each tool here reflects the will of the person wielding the tool while providing a pretense that some other force is at play.

▲

immibis 7 months ago | parent | prev [-]

why not say canine?

	▲	sangnoir 7 months ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The same reason I said "DEA agent" and not "an adult of working age" - the specificity of the role matters. I used a metonym for the animal as the police departments that work with dogs are called "K9 units"
	▲	shiroiushi 7 months ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		A "canine" is any kind of dog. A "K9" is a very specific type of dog used in US law enforcement, specially trained to act as if it smelled something when it sees a special signal from its handler.

▲

Zak 7 months ago | parent | prev | next [-]

A temporary hold like that only seems just to me in a case where someone had been charged with a crime and the money is alleged too be evidence or proceeds of that crime. Civil forfeiture is a way for the government to enforce criminal laws with a lower standard of proof and fewer protections for the accused. That's a bad thing.

▲

bsimpson 7 months ago | parent | prev [-]

It's called Civil Asset Forfeiture (gov euphemism for said literal theft).

I believe John Oliver did a piece on it when he first joined HBO.