muzzled dogg
11-28-2011, 03:30 PM
wtf
Tewksbury hotel owner wants seizure case dropped
The Lowell Sun
Updated: 11/27/2011 06:41:34 AM EST
BOSTON -- The owner of the Motel Caswell, whose fight to save his motel from federal civil forfeiture has gone to a national level, has asked a judge to force the government to drop its lawsuit, which seeks to seize his family's motel in Tewksbury.
In court documents filed earlier this month, attorney George W. Skogstrom Jr., who represents Russell Caswell and his wife, Patricia, argues that the federal civil-forfeiture law is unconstitutional and that the federal government's lawsuit should be dismissed in favor of the Caswells.
No hearing date has been scheduled by U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein to hear the motion.
If the federal magistrate accepts the Caswells' argument, property owners in all 50 states might try using it to defend against civil forfeiture actions, according to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Skogstrom joined forces with the Institute for Justice, an Arlington, Va.-based libertarian public-interest law firm, to fight the forfeiture.
The institute alleges the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency approached the Tewksbury police in 2009 about working together to use federal civil-forfeiture law to seize the motel at 434 Main St.
Tewksbury police did not attempt to seize the property under Massachusetts law, despite the motel being the site of more than 100 narcotics investigations since 1994, according to police affidavits.
The U.S. government wants to seize the Motel Caswell, sell it for an estimated $1.5 million, and split the cash with the Tewksbury Police Department, even though the Caswells have never been charged with a crime.
http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_19420861#.TtP8Szg8-nY.email
Tewksbury hotel owner wants seizure case dropped
The Lowell Sun
Updated: 11/27/2011 06:41:34 AM EST
BOSTON -- The owner of the Motel Caswell, whose fight to save his motel from federal civil forfeiture has gone to a national level, has asked a judge to force the government to drop its lawsuit, which seeks to seize his family's motel in Tewksbury.
In court documents filed earlier this month, attorney George W. Skogstrom Jr., who represents Russell Caswell and his wife, Patricia, argues that the federal civil-forfeiture law is unconstitutional and that the federal government's lawsuit should be dismissed in favor of the Caswells.
No hearing date has been scheduled by U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein to hear the motion.
If the federal magistrate accepts the Caswells' argument, property owners in all 50 states might try using it to defend against civil forfeiture actions, according to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Skogstrom joined forces with the Institute for Justice, an Arlington, Va.-based libertarian public-interest law firm, to fight the forfeiture.
The institute alleges the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency approached the Tewksbury police in 2009 about working together to use federal civil-forfeiture law to seize the motel at 434 Main St.
Tewksbury police did not attempt to seize the property under Massachusetts law, despite the motel being the site of more than 100 narcotics investigations since 1994, according to police affidavits.
The U.S. government wants to seize the Motel Caswell, sell it for an estimated $1.5 million, and split the cash with the Tewksbury Police Department, even though the Caswells have never been charged with a crime.
http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_19420861#.TtP8Szg8-nY.email