HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

POLICING FOR PROFIT: Feds try to take innocent elderly couple's Mom-and-Pop motel

Views: 913
UPDATE: The Caswell's won the case! Watch a behind the scenes video about the case here: http://youtu.be/oJrM44GwiTg

The most contentious civil forfeiture fight in the nation will be the subject of a week-long trial starting Monday, November 5, 2012, in Boston. Throughout the week, the Institute for Justice, which represents the property owners in the case, will expose the ugly practice of civil forfeiture—where law enforcement agencies can pad their budgets by taking property from innocent owners who have never been convicted or even charged with a crime.

The trial will start at 10 a.m. at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Way in Boston. The case of Tewksbury, Mass., motel owner Russ Caswell and his wife will be presided over by Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein in Courtroom 15. At the heart of the trial will be the protections afforded innocent owners, like the Caswells, when faced with the loss of their property.

All Russ and his wife want is to peacefully operate their motel. But because their property was worth one million dollars and carried no mortgage, and because a handful of drug crimes had taken place on the property over 20 years (which represent less than .05 percent of the 125,000 rooms the Caswells rented over that period of time), the federal government is trying to take the Caswell's property through civil forfeiture, sell the land and keep the money. Under a process known as "equitable sharing," the federal government would keep 20 percent of what they net and the local police department would pocket 80 percent. Russ and his wife stand to lose everything they worked their lives to build.

"The Caswell case epitomizes everything that is wrong with our nation's civil forfeiture laws," said Scott Bullock, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice. "People who are never even charged let alone convicted of criminal wrongdoing can face the loss of their homes, cars, cash, or, like with the Caswells, their entire business and livelihood."

"This outrageous forfeiture action should never have been filed in the first place," said Larry Salzman, an IJ attorney. "What the government is doing amounts to little more than a grab for what they saw as quick cash under the guise of civil forfeiture. Our goal in this case is to not only spotlight the inevitable abuse that transpires when law enforcement agencies are allowed to use civil forfeiture, but to set a precedent that will end this nightmare for the Caswells and stop an abuse of power that has ruined the lives of too many innocent Americans."

Russ said, "I think it is quite obvious why the federal government has come after us and not other businesses. We own a million-dollar property with no mortgage, so anything they get here, they get to keep for themselves. This case took a huge financial toll on our family before the Institute for Justice stepped up to defend us. And it continues to put a huge personal strain on both me and my wife. At this point in our lives, we should be thinking about our retirement. Instead, we have to take on this fight to save our business and make sure that it won't happen again to the next generation that comes along."

http://www.ij.org/massachusetts-civil-forfeiture-release-3-15-2013
Donate to IJ: https://ij.org/support/give-now/
@IJvidsfollow
Thumbnail for Panel 1: Judicial Engagement in Enforcing Property Rights1:34:42
Panel 1: Judicial Engagement in Enforcing Property Rights
IJvids
745 views
Thumbnail for Remove This! ✂️ AI-Based Video Completion is Amazing! | Two Minute Papers6:33
Remove This! ✂️ AI-Based Video Completion is Amazing! | Two Minute Papers
invidious
1616 views
Thumbnail for Burger King Proves The Fight for $15 Was an Epic Fail | Live From The Lair10:33
Burger King Proves The Fight for $15 Was an Epic Fail | Live From The Lair
Terrence Popp
1544 views
Thumbnail for Introducing Roll | A new technology that enables rolling everywhere. | Roll2:44
Introducing Roll | A new technology that enables rolling everywhere. | Roll
invidious
759 views
Thumbnail for 1 fat 2 tubs0:09
1 fat 2 tubs
AOUisgay
1407 views
Thumbnail for Black man calls out the Jew3:10
Black man calls out the Jew
AOUisgay
3035 views
Thumbnail for Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex | The Onion2:42
Situation In Nigeria Seems Pretty Complex | The Onion
invidious
778 views
Thumbnail for British Gal Gets Americanized0:17
British Gal Gets Americanized
AOUisgay
3186 views
Thumbnail for drone through urban combat aftermath0:47
drone through urban combat aftermath
Gviduser
1653 views
Thumbnail for A Jewish woman talks about the Jews1:34
A Jewish woman talks about the Jews
AOU
1873 views
Thumbnail for Beijing Biden's Big Red Army of Soy | Ride and Roast42:45
Beijing Biden's Big Red Army of Soy | Ride and Roast
Terrence Popp
1462 views
Thumbnail for jew Jim Cramer explains how he illegally spreads lies to tank prices of stocks he has short positions on.6:45
jew Jim Cramer explains how he illegally spreads lies to tank prices of stocks he has short positions on.
allAheadFull
876 views
Thumbnail for Dresden the real Holocaust.  Allied fire bombing of German civillian cultural center at the end of WWII.11:29
Dresden the real Holocaust. Allied fire bombing of German civillian cultural center at the end of WWII.
allAheadFull
1079 views
Thumbnail for 이것 때문에 해운업계는 발등에 불이 떨어졌습니다/올트만 7조 달러 투자 계획/하락한 해운사, 조선의 국모가 보는 전망은?/죽어라 일해도 가난한 나라는 이것이 없다/최파고의부자되는법 | 삼프로TV_경제의신과함께5:48:01
이것 때문에 해운업계는 발등에 불이 떨어졌습니다/올트만 7조 달러 투자 계획/하락한 해운사, 조선의 국모가 보는 전망은?/죽어라 일해도 가난한 나라는 이것이 없다/최파고의부자되는법 | 삼프로TV_경제의신과함께
invidious
260 views
Thumbnail for Dunedin, FL Foreclosure Press Conference18:48
Dunedin, FL Foreclosure Press Conference
IJvids
990 views
Thumbnail for Episode 3 - The Orbiter5:03
Episode 3 - The Orbiter
murdochmurdoch
1337 views
Thumbnail for Reason.tv at Slamdance: The Porno-Terror Nexus--How the Patriot Act shut down Insex.com4:26
Reason.tv at Slamdance: The Porno-Terror Nexus--How the Patriot Act shut down Insex.com
ReasonVids
844 views
Thumbnail for What Should Have Happened at the Cryptocurrency Hearings4:38
What Should Have Happened at the Cryptocurrency Hearings
ReasonVids
963 views
Thumbnail for The Stupid Party in Action4:57
The Stupid Party in Action
AmericanRenaissance
1265 views
Thumbnail for Stossel: Is 2018 The Year of the Libertarian Party?4:56
Stossel: Is 2018 The Year of the Libertarian Party?
ReasonVids
863 views
Thumbnail for بث مباشر🔴🔴عدد سهرة اليوم من حصة VAR الهدّاف !! | Elheddaf TV Compte1:50:32
بث مباشر🔴🔴عدد سهرة اليوم من حصة VAR الهدّاف !! | Elheddaf TV Compte
invidious
92 views

points

Permalink
Reply
forfeiture, police, doj, institute for justice, ij, liberty, libertarian, tewksbury, massachusetts, scott bullock, russ caswell
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle