Crooked In Texas

The #1 community for Gun Owners in Indiana

Member Benefits:

  • Fewer Ads!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • mrjarrell

    Shooter
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 18, 2009
    19,986
    63
    Hamilton County
    It's towns like Tenaha, Texas and their enforcement bureaucracy that point up what's wrong with forfeiture laws. They lead to corruption and, in this case especially, out and out highway robbery. Here we have a case of corruption from the DA on down. Lots of jail time needs to be handed out, at the least.

    From Reason:

    The little town of Tenaha, Texas has been all over the news in the last year after several defense attorneys revealed the town's police had been pulling over motorists along a main highway, seizing their property (cars, cash, jewelry, etc.), then presenting them with an unsavory bargain: Sign a waiver forfeiting all of their property over to the police, or be arrested for drug crimes where, even if innocent, they'd face a night or more in jail and attorney and court fees that would usually amount to more than what the property was worth.
    One defense attorney found that of 200 seizures made by Tenaha police between and 2008, just 50 were ever criminally charged. That's actually about average for forfeiture cases. It's the bargain Tenaha police struck with motorists, nearly of them black, that's illegal.
    Tenaha's police department and Shelby County District Attorney Lynda K. Russell—who used forfeiture funds to pay for a Christmas party and to buy tickets to a motorcycle rally—are now subject to a federal civil rights investigation and a federal civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of motorists by the ACLU of Texas.
    Here's the crazy part: Russell is attempting to use proceeds from the county's forfeiture fund to pay for her legal defense. That is, she wants to raid the fund she's accused of stealing from motorists to fund in order ot defend herself from accusations that she stole from motorists to fund it. The ultimate irony here is that when law enforcement officials freeze a suspect's assets in anticipation of a drug prosecution, the suspect isn't allowed to use any of those assets to pay for his own legal defense.
    The ACLU of Texas is asking the state attorney general to block Russell.

    Looks like the ACLU is doing their job down there. Kudo's to them.
     

    Paco Bedejo

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Mar 23, 2009
    1,672
    38
    Fort Wayne
    For some reason, this story brings this picture to mind...

    nothingbut3-300x168.jpg
     

    Josed

    Plinker
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Mar 21, 2008
    31
    6
    I hope Mrs. Russel and the cops who participated in this scam
    go to jail for a long time. No wonder few Americans trust their
    goverment.:xmad:
     
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Nov 17, 2008
    3,121
    36
    NE Indiana
    Check out the DA and police force in Muncie, Indiana. The DA almost received a 90 day law license suspension but the Supreme Court said that 90 days wasn't long enough.
     

    Kirk Freeman

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    Mar 9, 2008
    47,969
    113
    Lafayette, Indiana
    It's such an easy remedy too. Simply raise the standard of proof to clear and convincing evidence for these proceedings.

    I have all the answers. Why don't people listen (especially ex-girlfriends)?:D
     

    mrjarrell

    Shooter
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 18, 2009
    19,986
    63
    Hamilton County
    Took a while but the ACLU finally reached a settlement with the robbers. Too bad it didn't result in public flogging and prison for them and their enablers. Hope all the people they stole from got their money back with interest, but that would be too much to hope for. Looks like the robbers get off scott free and get some new rules and likely some "training". Robbers used to get shot in Texas.

    Justice in Tenaha and the Current State of Texas Forfeiture Law | The Agitator

    http://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/aclu-announces-settlement-highway-robbery-cases-texas
     

    IndyDave1776

    Grandmaster
    Emeritus
    Rating - 100%
    12   0   0
    Jan 12, 2012
    27,286
    113
    It's such an easy remedy too. Simply raise the standard of proof to clear and convincing evidence for these proceedings.

    I have all the answers. Why don't people listen (especially ex-girlfriends)?:D

    They won't listen to you because honest law enforcement does not come with an obscene profit margin. (Sorry, I can't help with the ex-girlfriends.)
     
    Top Bottom