Now hold on just a minute. I’m not one of those crazies who thinks the government is nothing better than a den of thieves constantly looking for new ways to steal from us. So don’t accuse me of making such an accusation. Please.
But, gee whiz, it sure makes the government look bad when obscure federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Justice engage in the mass theft of $85 million worth of property belonging to people accused of no wrongdoing.
It must be one of those oft-repeated wild aberrations.
In March, the federal government conducted a raid of a safe deposit box company called U.S. Privacy Vaults. The government accuses the company of abetting drug dealers.
The government accuses the box renters of . . . nothing. But DOJ is trying to use civil forfeiture laws to retain most of what it seized during the raid: some $85 million in cash and valuables.
The Institute for Justice is thankfully leading a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the victims.
“The government has no basis to think any of these people have done anything wrong,” notes IJ attorney Robert Frommer. “It just wants to keep their stuff. That’s unlawful and unconstitutional.”
One victim, Travis May, a Reason Foundation trustee, adds: “Civil forfeiture is an abomination. This is a clear demonstration of the perverse motive it creates.”
May says that Congress should outlaw civil forfeiture once and for all. I must agree . . . otherwise, we encourage the fandooglishly wacky impression that government is out to steal from us.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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3 replies on “Not-So-Safe Deposit Boxes”
Hopefully this “raid” has hit the mother lode both as to amount necessary to support and number of legal owners prepared to oppose and stop this governmental theft.
Employing this tactic this on individuals who cannot afford the cost of litigation or against criminals who would have to self incriminate in their defense was easy and low hanging fruit.
This is a different matter. The governments best tactic would be to return the assets and drop the case. Thankfully it’s collective intelligence is insufficient to understand that.
Don’t forget bank savings accounts. An account with no activity for nine months can be seized by the government. Even though it’s earning interest, if there are no deposits or withdrawals for nine months, the account can be deemed ‘inactive’ and the government confiscates the money.
The time limit varies by state.