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.

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ch4s3 10 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.

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sangnoir 10 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

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ch4s3 10 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.

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plagiarist 10 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 10 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.

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immibis 10 months ago | parent | prev [-]

why not say canine?

	▲	sangnoir 10 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 10 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.

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Zak 10 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.

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bsimpson 10 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.