The Philadelphia police are putting home owners on the street...

[Anti Federalist]

You know what's frustrating?

The news babe at the end of the clip, "I never heard of this before"...

Are we really that isolated, is Boobus really that out of touch, that they never heard of militarized police and asset forfeiture before?


The Philadelphia police are putting home owners on the street and it has nothing to do with their ability to pay the mortgage, nor are they being charged with a crime.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/philadelphia-police-seizing-peoples-homes-charges/#oPRUFL82VTG2WuPC.99


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fj2zJSUiUH8

Christos Sourovelis works hard and owns a painting business. He has built a “dream house” in a Philadelphia suburb, and without warning, the city came along and siezed their home. Sourovelis and his wife, Markela, have never been charged, or accused of any wrong doing.

They are now suing the Philadelphia DA after their home was seized when their son was found with $40 worth of heroin.

A month and half after their son was arrested the police showed up. They opened the door and had their gun drawn on the families dog before Markela Sourovelis even knew what was going on.

This family isn’t alone. Civil forfeiture allows the city to seize any property without charging the home owner with a crime.

From 2008-2011 Allegheny, PA, filed only 200 petitions for civil forfeiture, in 2011 alone, Philadelphia filed 6,560 petitions.

“The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has turned this tool in to a veritable machine, devouring real and personal property from thousands of residents, many of whom are innocent, and converting that property in to a $5.8 million average annual stream of revenue,” Darpana Sheth, a lawyer with the Virginia-based Institute for Justice, a nonprofit public-interest law firm told CNN.

Civil forfeiture was authorized in 1988 as a means to go after drug traffickers to take away the “tools of the trade”, meaning anything used or earned from the drug business. However, because these cases are technically civil actions, property owners receive almost none of the protections that criminal defendants receive. Instead of them having to prove your guilt, you must prove your innocence.

The governent must only prove that a property, not the owner, was “more likely than not” involved in the perpetration of a crime.

This week the Sourovelis’s joined with two other families and filed a lawsuit against the DA, city, and the police department. They are seeking only $6 each in damages, but aim to shut down the civil forfeiture program on constitutional grounds.

Philadelphia has brought in more than $64 million in seized property during the last decade – nearly twice the amount raised by similar programs in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Los Angeles County combined, according to Philly.com.

According to a report by Vice titled ‘Asset Forfeiture, the Cash Cow of the Drug War‘, The Justice Department’s asset forfeiture fund was at $1.8 billion in 2011, and it gave away nearly half a billion dollars to local police departments.

Asset forfeiture keeps the money rolling into police departments, which is in turn used to buy them all sorts of fancy new militarized toys.

What do you say, isn’t it time to end the drug war?

[Christian Liberty]

I can just envision what Laurence Vance would say to this:

The question only libertarians are asking; "Why is heroin illegal?"

[Anti Federalist]

I was two minutes late on this post, behind kcchiefs.

[tod evans]

Filing lawsuits is akin to begging the executioner or pissing up a rope.

The DA is solely responsible for this, quit fucking around with paperwork and the media and drag the cocksucker into the street and tar and feather him..:mad:

[presence]

You know what's frustrating?

The news babe at the end of the clip, "I never heard of this before"...

Are we really that isolated, is Boobus really that out of touch, that they never heard of militarized police and asset forfeiture before?

Yes. There are a few hundred of us here at RPF... maybe a few hundred thousand across the nation... the rest of the populous is sadly oblivious.

[phill4paul]

Are we really that isolated, is Boobus really that out of touch, that they never heard of militarized police and asset forfeiture before?

I do believe so. Possibly one in ten know of it. At least 9 of ten believe that if it happens to someone else then there must be a reason for it. 10 of 10 believe it will never happen to them.

[kcchiefs6465]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quvdBZ0jUc8

[Anti Federalist]

http://i57.tinypic.com/23qyrg7.jpg

[HOLLYWOOD]

The question only libertarians are asking; "Why is heroin illegal?"Bayer Pharmaceutical invented heroin, it was outlawed in the US in the early 1900s, all because it cut in on the action of the other big pharma painkiller companies.

Where do you start, '10 Planks of the Communist Manifesto'?

Unjust laws for the state, by the state, "Licensed to Steal"

Guilty until you prove yourself, and everybody else innocent

Dumbass Americans allowing this to happen... now back to: The Excrement Factor, Phony housewives of wherever, American Idol, Bayou Fake Morons, Dancing with Dipshits...

George Carlin, "Now they're coming for your retirement money, so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street. You know what? They'll get.. They'll get it all... as long as Americans remain willfully ignorant."


Government is good at 3 things, "Lying, Stealing, and Destroying"

[TheTexan]

You can tell by his thick accent he's probably not an American citizen. And according to this article (http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_24/06/2014_540772), Greece is an international hub for the heroin trade.

Sounds like probable cause to me.

[kcchiefs6465]

You can tell by his thick accent he's probably not an American citizen. And according to this article (http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_24/06/2014_540772), Greece is an international hub for the heroin trade.

Sounds like probable cause to me.
Your trolling is unfunny. Has been for a while.

You are doing more to promote statism than the actual statists.

From now on, as I am able, I will be neg repping each of these posts. Not that you give a fuck and not that I particularly give a fuck, as this country is fucked regardless, but nonetheless you are becoming a gnat.

[Schifference]

What just struck me as strange is the government can throw you out on the street without notice but a landlord cannot get rid of a non paying tenant or homeowner get rid of a squatter. If that house was rented the homeowner would probably be responsible for the tenants expenses.

[RonPaulIsGreat]

How can a news reporter for an international 'news' agency not have heard of this, when it has been in the news, for decades. Only one real answer is most news anchors are just actors, nothing more. I like the term news models for the good looking empty headed ones.

[Natural Citizen]

How can a news reporter for an international 'news' agency not have heard of this, when it has been in the news, for decades. Only one real answer is most news anchors are just actors, nothing more. I like the term news models for the good looking empty headed ones.

Funny you mention that...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM8L7bdwVaA

[Anti Federalist]

One of the best donations I make on a regular basis.



Philadelphians Save Homes From Civil Forfeiture Machine
But Continue Legal Fight Over City’s Unconstitutional Program

http://ij.org/philadelphia-forfeiture-release-12-18-2014

PHILADELPHIA—Today, Philadelphia’s Office of the District Attorney agreed to dismiss its civil-forfeiture proceedings against the family homes of Christos Sourovelis and Doila Welch. The dismissals mean that both families will no longer have to worry about losing their homes as they head into the holidays.



Since August, Christos and Doila have been embroiled in a legal battle with the city over its unprecedented use of civil forfeiture to seize the homes and personal property of thousands of Philadelphians without ever charging the owners with a crime. Both Christos and Doila are named plaintiffs in the federal, class-action lawsuit that seeks to end Philadelphia’s shocking system of seizing nearly $6 million in property from its citizens each year and using that money to pad law-enforcement budgets.

Although Christos and Doila’s individual, state-level civil-forfeiture proceedings have been dismissed, they will continue to lead the federal, class-action legal challenge to Philadelphia’s entire civil-forfeiture scheme.

“After months of uncertainty, my family can finally rest easy knowing that our home is our home again,” said Christos. “I’ve lived in Philadelphia for over 30 years. I never thought it was possible for the police to just show up at my doorstep without notice and take my house when I’ve done nothing wrong. But that’s exactly what happened to me and my family—and we’re not alone. That’s why we’re going to keep fighting for everyone still trapped in Philadelphia’s civil forfeiture nightmare.”

“We are pleased that Christos and Doila’s families will be able to enjoy their homes for the holidays,” said Darpana Sheth, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, which is representing the plaintiffs in their challenge to Philadelphia’s program. “Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many other Philadelphia families. Philadelphia law enforcement continues to use its system of robo-forfeitures to pad its budgets with millions in unaccountable funds by stripping innocent people of their rights and property.”

Since the lawsuit challenging Philadelphia’s civil-forfeiture scheme was announced on August 12, the case has garnered national attention and has shed much-needed light on a relatively unknown practice that nets billions every year for law-enforcement agencies nationwide. Philadelphia’s program has received critical coverage from sources ranging from The Wall Street Journal editorial board to Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver, who said that “civil forfeiture laws have warped law enforcement priorities and perception and nowhere is that more clear than in Philadelphia.”


The Institute for Justice is leading the fight against civil forfeiture nationwide. To learn more about this case and IJ’s national efforts, visit endforfeiture.com.

[specsaregood]

One of the best donations I make on a regular basis.

If you could ask somebody responsible for these asset seizures or training people to do these seizures anything at all without much risk, what would you ask them?

[DFF]

They are now suing the Philadelphia DA after their home was seized when their son was found with $40 worth of heroin.

Now this is a completely different scenario than some of the "other" police topics as of late. This civil asset forfeiture shit is nothing but a fucking state sanctioned organized crime racket which I am completely against.

The police shouldn't have the right to steal someone's property because they were in possession, or were suspected of being in possession of a little bit of dope.

This crap is just another failure of the war on drugs which has caused more human suffering than drug addiction ever thought about.

End the war on drugs, legalize them all. It's not the states nor anyone elses business what someone is putting in their own body.

[CaptainAmerica]

this country is not going to get better with elections, I do not care who thinks that, its just ridiculous,way out of control.

[CaptainAmerica]

You can tell by his thick accent he's probably not an American citizen. And according to this article (http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_24/06/2014_540772), Greece is an international hub for the heroin trade.

Sounds like probable cause to me.

so you're justifying civil asset forfeiture? I dont get what you are trying to say.................

[kcchiefs6465]

so you're justifying civil asset forfeiture? I dont get what you are trying to say.................
BXM has been trolling as the devil's advocate for a while now.

He knows the specifics of civil asset forfeiture but finds his time better suited offering absurd reasoning so as people see just how damn dumb or immoral what they believe is.

Very annoying, in my opinion, but whatever floats boats.

[jbauer]

Filing lawsuits is akin to begging the executioner or pissing up a rope.

The DA is solely responsible for this, quit fucking around with paperwork and the media and drag the cocksucker into the street and tar and feather him..:mad:
After yesterday such a post probably opens you up to forfeiture.

[jbauer]

You can tell by his thick accent he's probably not an American citizen. And according to this article (http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_24/06/2014_540772), Greece is an international hub for the heroin trade.

Sounds like probable cause to me.

Da fuck?

[jmdrake]

Now this is a completely different scenario than some of the "other" police topics as of late. This civil asset forfeiture shit is nothing but a fucking state sanctioned organized crime racket which I am completely against.

The police shouldn't have the right to steal someone's property because they were in possession, or were suspected of being in possession of a little bit of dope.

This crap is just another failure of the war on drugs which has caused more human suffering than drug addiction ever thought about.

End the war on drugs, legalize them all. It's not the states nor anyone elses business what someone is putting in their own body.

It's actually not different from the Eric Garner case at all. In that case he was accused (falsely?) of selling cigarettes. He didn't feel like going to a rape cage that day. He was put in an illegal choke hold and murdered. In this case people are being (falsely?) accused of selling illegal drugs and their homes are being seized. In both cases the root cause is giving the police state power to ruin someone's life for no good reason. Of course people losing their homes because corrupt government declares they have drugs seems more salient to white people because that's a scenario they can more likely see happening to them.

[tod evans]

After yesterday such a post probably opens you up to forfeiture.

I'm afraid I'm not a good enough Christian that I could wait for God to extract his vengeance were something like this to happen...;)