=========================================================================== BBS: VICTORIA ONLINE BBS Date: 06-11-93 (11:43) Number: 4328 From: LESTER GARRETT Refer#: NONE To: ALL Recvd: NO Subj: BATF ABUSES - 1 OF 2 Conf: (267) S-PoliPhil --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** NOTE: THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS A CROSS-POST FROM FIDONET ** 1/2 * The original was cross-posted by Terry Goodman to the DEBATE Echo * * It was dated 06 Jun 93 and addressed to All * ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ** NOTE: THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS A CROSS-POST FROM AEN NEWS ** * The original was written by WAYNE DOUGHERTY * * It was dated 06-01-93 and addressed to ALL * * It was forwarded by LINDA THOMPSON to the Fidonet LAW Echo * +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | The following opinion/commentary ran in the Washington Times, | | 1 June 1993, page E3. | | | | UNSETTLING QUESTIONS IN PROBE OF WACO | | | | by Paul Craig Roberts | | | | The American public, enmeshed in its diet of violent | | entertainment, is fascinated with Attorney General Janet Reno, | | the woman who killed more people than Billy the Kid. | | | | As unbelievable as it may seem, the death toll from her | | fateful decision in Waco, Texas, was more than half as large as | | the total U.S. battle deaths in the Persian Gulf war. | | | | That's some woman. The Los Angeles Times declared Miss Reno to | | be a "folk hero." Not to be outdone, the New York Times called | | her a "prized asset." The Washington Post accorded her | | "superstar status." | | | | Miss Reno told the House Judiciary Committee that she made the | | decision that ended in a holocaust because "I was convinced | | that the passage of time only increassed the likelihood of | | incidents and possible attendant injuries and harm." | | | | In making that decision, Miss Reno acted contrary to the | | operational instructions set out in the FBI's Hostage | | Negotiation Training Manual. Pages from the manual were sent to | | me by an FBI-trained hostage negotiator. The manual | | unambiguously states: "Time is always in our favor." | | | | The hostage negotiator who wrote to me insists: "We are nowhere | | trained to make an assault because we feel tired. Time is | | always on our side. Always. Statistically, the longer a hostage | | situation lasts, the safer the hostages are." | | | | Janet Reno's "action can only be called negligence. She | | shouldn't be fired. She should be tried." | | | | The government promptly bulldozed the Waco site so no one can | | find out what happened, but evidence is coming to light that | | shows a fantastic abuse of power by the Treasury's Bureau of | | Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. | | | | The Houston Chronicle obtained tapes of the telephone | | conversations between David Koresh and BATF negotiator Jim | | Cavanaugh. Shortly after BATF's initial assault that caused the | | fatal encounter, Mr. Koresh told Mr. Cavanaugh" "It would have | | been better if you just called me up or talked to me. Then you | | could have come in and done your work." | | | | Instead, BATF initiated an action that the FBI manual warns | | against. By assaulting the compound, BATF provoked a "startle | | reaction" that caused the Branch Davidians to fire | | instinctively. | | | | The most puzzling aspect of the story has been the presence of | | TV crews when 100 heavily armed Treasury agents stormed the | | compound on Feb. 28. It now appears that the raid on the | | compound was intended to further the cause of gun control by | | televising into every home alarming scenes of a vast stockpile | | of weapons in the hands of fanatic cultists. | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- - concluded in next message - --- þ EZ 1.39 #136 þ Laissez Nous Faire! Los Angeles, CA þ RoseMail 2.10á: SmartNet #4001, DPS, Pcfic Palsds, CA (310)459-6053 =========================================================================== BBS: VICTORIA ONLINE BBS Date: 06-11-93 (11:43) Number: 4329 From: LESTER GARRETT Refer#: NONE To: ALL Recvd: NO Subj: BATF ABUSES - 2 OF 2 Conf: (267) S-PoliPhil --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - concluded from previous message - 2/2 ------------------------------------------------------------------- | BATF is a bureaucracy that has outlived its mission. | | Prohibition ended a half-century ago. Eliot Ness is no longer | | needed to chase down gangsters and their untaxed profits from | | bootlegging. Today no one smuggles tobacco. Treasury agents no | | longer have anything to do but harass innocent gun owners. | | | | At this task BATF excels. A report by the Senate Judiciary | | Committee in February 1982 showed BATF to be essentially a | | Gestapo operation engaged almost entirely in framing-up | | innocent citizens. The report says illegal BATF actions, such | | as entrapment and secret lawmaking via unpublished | | administrative interpretations of gun laws, "amply documented | | in hearings before this subcommittee, leave little doubt that | | the Bureau has disregarded rights guaranteed by the | | Constitution and laws of the United States." | | | | The committee report says: "Expert evidence was submitted | | establishing that approximately 75 percent of BATF gun | | prosecutions were aimed at ordinary citizens who had neither | | criminal intent nor knowledge, but were enticed by agents into | | unknowing technical violations." | | | | The committee concluded that BATF was a rogue operation that | | trampled all over the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments. | | Following the congressional hearings, the Treasury Department | | was so embarassed by the documented abuses that it drew up | | plans to abolish the agency. However, it was unable to do so, | | because neither the Customs Bureau nor the Secret Service would | | accept the transfer of the discredited BATF agents into their | | organizations. | | | | Today, BATF's constituency consists entirely of Sarah Brady of | | Handgun Control and the anti-gun folks at The Washington Post. | | It was BATF's effort to create a gun scare in order to broaden | | this narrow constituency that led to the death of 100 people in | | Waco. If Bill Clinton wants to cut the federal budget, he can | | begin with BATF. | | | | --------- | | Paul Craig Roberts, an economist at the Center for Strategic | | and International Studies, is a columnist for The Washington | | Times and is nationally syndicated. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ [end] TMail v1.31.3 Origin: Los Angeles Valley College (818) 985-7150 (1:102/837) ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ END TRANS Lô õG --- þ EZ 1.39 #136 þ Laissez Nous Faire! Los Angeles, CA þ RoseMail 2.10á: SmartNet #4001, DPS, Pcfic Palsds, CA (310)459-6053 =========================================================================== BBS: VICTORIA ONLINE BBS Date: 06-11-93 (11:43) Number: 4330 From: LESTER GARRETT Refer#: NONE To: ALL Recvd: NO Subj: WACO PC WARRANT - 1 OF 2 Conf: (267) S-PoliPhil --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** NOTE: THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS A CROSS-POST FROM FIDONET ** 1/2 * The original was written by Terry Goodman in the DEBATE Echo * * It was dated 06 Jun 93 and addressed to All * [Terry is a copy cat! This one's mine, below is his.] ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ** NOTE: THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS A CROSS-POST FROM AEN NEWS ** 1/2 * The original was written by WAYNE DOUGHERTY * * It was dated 06-01-93 and addressed to ALL * * It was forwarded by LINDA THOMPSON to the Fidonet LAW Echo * +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | The following opinion/commentary ran in the Washington Times, | | 1 June 1993, page E3. | | | | UNSETTLING QUESTIONS IN PROBE OF WACO | | What motivated the raid? | | | | by Thomas Fiddleman / David Kopel | | | | Congressional investigators studying the mass murder in Waco, | | Texas, have correctly decided it is more important, for long- | | term public safety, to find out why the siege began than to | | keep on second guessing its end. Why was the federal Bureau of | | Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms assaulting the Branch Davidians | | in the first place? | | | | It is increasingly clear that the original federal raid on the | | compound never should have occurred, because the BATF's appli- | | cation to search the premises was far below legal standards. | | | | The warrant to search the Branch Davidian compound near Waco | | was procured on the basis of an affidavit from an inexperienced | | special agent with the BATF, Davy Aguilera. The affidavit was | | approved by a U.S. magistrate who was a former prosecutor. The | | affidavit, kept secret during the siege, now has been released. | | Review of the affidavit show that it failed to establish | | probable cause. | | | | Some parts of the affidavit were plainly false. For example, | | Agent Aguilera told the federal magistrate that Mr. Koresh had | | possession of a "clandestine" firearms publication. | | | | The "clandestine" publication was Shotgun News, a national | | newspaper that carries want-ads by gun retailers and | | wholesalers. The newspaper is sold at newsstands all over the | | country, and to tens of thousands of subscribers. With a | | circulation of more than 150,000, it's no more clandestine than | | the New Republic. Other errors in the affidavit apparently came | | from the BATF's and the magistrate's shared ignorance of | | federal gun laws. Although Agent Aguilera asserted that he knew | | about federal firearms laws, he confused the definitions of | | "machine gun," "destructive device," "explosive," and | | "explosive device." All four terms have very specific meanings | | under federal weapons laws, and different rules apply to | | different items. The magistrate failed to notice. Mr. Koresh's | | group had, according to the BATF affidavit, AK-47 rifles. The | | affidavit detailed how an undercover agent had observed the | | upper and lower receivers of disassembled AK-47s. (The receiver | | is the housing for a gun's internal working parts.) But in | | truth, the informant could not have seen what he claimed. The | | AK-47 has a unitary receiver, not separate upper and lower | | receivers. | | | | Mr. Aguilera asserted that a neighbor heard machine-gun fire; | | but Mr. Aguilera failed to tell the magistrate that the same | | neighbor had previously reported the noise to the sheriff, who | | investigated the noise. The sheriff found Mr. Koresh had a | | lawful item called a "hell fire device," which simulates the | | sound of machine-gun fire but does not turn a regular gun into | | a machine gun.. | | | | All other allegations that Mr. Koresh owned machine guns were | | made by persons who were clearly ignorant of firearms and could | | not reliably testify to whether the guns, or the pictures of | | guns, they saw were legal semiautomatic firearms or illegal | | machine guns. | | | | Amazingly, the magistrate apparently failed to notice that Mr. | | Aguilera had not sworn that his informants were knowledgeable | | or reliable. | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ - concluded in next message - --- þ EZ 1.39 #136 þ Laissez Nous Faire! Los Angeles, CA þ RoseMail 2.10á: SmartNet #4001, DPS, Pcfic Palsds, CA (310)459-6053 =========================================================================== BBS: VICTORIA ONLINE BBS Date: 06-11-93 (11:43) Number: 4331 From: LESTER GARRETT Refer#: NONE To: ALL Recvd: NO Subj: WACO PC WARRANT - 2 OF 2 Conf: (267) S-PoliPhil --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** NOTE: THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS A CROSS-POST FROM FIDONET ** 2/2 * The original was written by Terry Goodman in the DEBATE Echo * * It was dated 06 Jun 93 and addressed to All * =============================================================== - concluded from previous message - +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | The only legal violation that the BATF actually alleged was | | that the Davidians possessed machine guns without having paid | | the required $200 federal tax. Other than statements from | | people who knew virtually nothing about guns, the only evidence | | that the BATF offered was proof that the Davidians had bought | | various spare parts for guns. The spare parts were usable for | | both legal semiautomatic rifles and illegal machine guns; the | | Davidians violated no laws by purchasing them. | | | | Why did the BATF think Mr. Koresh was going to be violent, | | thereby justifying its perpetrating an armed assault to present | | a simple search warrant? The affidavit contained an allegation | | that Mr. Koresh had told a social worker that he was a | | messenger of God and that, when the time came, the violence in | | Waco would make the Los Angeles Riots pale in comparison. The | | statement, however, was supposedly made on April 6, 1992 DD 3+ | | weeks before the LA riots began. Apparently somebody lied about | | Mr. Koresh's "threat," and the magistrate didn't notice. | | | | BATF Director Stephen Higgins testified to Congress that as of | | December 1992, there was not probable cause to justify the | | arrest and search. What happened between December and late | | February to establish | probable cause? In January, BATF agents | | merely reconfirmed statements made in 1992, or investigated | | witnesses who hadn't been in the compound for several months, | | so the information was legally "stale." | | | | What about February? An undercover agnet told of a meeting with | | Mr. Koresh, at which Mr. Koresh read the Bible, played the | | guitar, voiced support for the right to keep and bear arms, | | called federal gun laws stupid, and showed a videotape in which | | the BATF was accused of using lies and threats to take away the | | rights of gun owners. Which of those actions established | | probable cause for an armed BATF raid? | | | | The most important protections of the sanctity of every | | American's home are the good judgement and reliability of the | | law enforcement community and a judiciary that carefully | | scrutinizes law enforcement claims. All of those protections | | were absent when the BATF asked a federal magistrate in Texas | | for permission to raid the Branch Davidians. | | | | ------------ | | | | Theodore Fiddleman is a free-lance writer. David B. Kopel is | | director of the Firearms Research Project at the Independence | | Institute in Denver and an associate policy analyst of the Cato | | Institute. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ [end] ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ END TRANS Lô õG --- þ EZ 1.39 #136 þ Laissez Nous Faire! Los Angeles, CA þ RoseMail 2.10á: SmartNet #4001, DPS, Pcfic Palsds, CA (310)459-6053 =========================================================================== BBS: VICTORIA ONLINE BBS Date: 06-11-93 (11:43) Number: 4332 From: LESTER GARRETT Refer#: NONE To: ALL Recvd: NO Subj: THE WAR ON DRUGS - 1 OF 4 Conf: (267) S-PoliPhil --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** NOTE: THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS A CROSS-POST FROM FIDONET ** 1/4 * The original was written by Jim Bell in the DEBATE Echo * * It was dated 05 Jun 93 and addressed to All * ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Subj: 02/NY Times Forfeiture Article Cross Post from Liberty ³ ³ ------------------------------------------------------------ ³ ³ ³ ³ From: starr@genie.slhs.udel.edu ³ ³ Date: Fri, 4 Jun 93 8:46:16 GMT ³ ³ ³ ³ Seized Property in Crime Cases Causes Concern ³ ³ ³ ³ by Stephen Labaton ³ ³ Special to the New York Times ³ ³ ³ ³ Washington, May 29--The bounty from America's war on crime sits ³ ³ in building lots and parking lots, in marinas and airfields and ³ ³ bank vults around the nation: billions of dollars' worth of cars, ³ ³ boats, planes, jewels, homes and other valuables seized by state ³ ³ and federal agents from people accused of high profile crimes. ³ ³ ³ ³ To many prosecutors, the laws that allow them to confiscate ³ ³ the assets of suspects are both a powerful weapon against drug ³ ³ trafficking, illegal immigration, racketeering and white-collar ³ ³ crimes and a way to raise money for schools, libraries, police ³ ³ departments and prisons. ³ ³ ³ ³ By last year the Federal Government had an inventory of ³ ³ seized property worth $2 billion, up from $33 million in 1979, ³ ³ according to a Federal study. Billions more have already been ³ ³ sold at auction. By some estimates, the states have collected ³ ³ even more, although no precise figures exist. ³ ³ ³ ³ Considering Limits ³ ³ ³ ³ But to a growing number of critics, the seizing of suspects' ³ ³ property--asset forfeiture, as it is called--is out of control, a ³ ³ system all too easily abused by overzealous prosecutors eager to ³ ³ meet budget targets by taking as much property as they can. ³ ³ ³ ³ Prompted by a tide of complaints about the seizure of cars, ³ ³ homes and businesses from people who have not been convicted of ³ ³ anything (or sometimes even formally charged), the Federal ³ ³ courts, Congress and the Clinton Administration are all ³ ³ considering ways to limit the discretion of prosecutors. ³ ³ ³ ³ Civil liberties groups and defense lawyers have long ³ ³ maintained that the existing rules make it too easy for the ³ ³ government to take assets. Now they have been joined by another ³ ³ powerful lobby: banks and other loan companies, which say they ³ ³ have become victims of the law because often the cars, homes and ³ ³ boats that are seized, and sometimes neglected, were the ³ ³ collateral for loans to the accused. ³ ³ ³ ³ High Court Weighs In ³ ³ ³ ³ And with greater frequency, Federal judges and former ³ ³ prosecutors have been criticizing the Government's seizures as ³ ³ excessive in some instances. Already in this term, the Supreme ³ ³ Court has handed the Government two defeats in asset forfeiture ³ ³ cases, and a ruling against the United States in a third case ³ ³ under review could deal a significant blow to all prosecutors. ³ ³ ³ ³ In that case, a North Dakota man lost his car repair ³ ³ business and his trailer after selling two grams of cocaine to an ³ ³ undercover agent, and the Court now faces the question of whether ³ ³ the Constitution requires that such seizures be proportional to ³ ³ the crime. ³ ³ ³ ³ Attorney General Janet Reno, in one of her first acts, ³ ³ ordered a review of the asset forfeiture procedures, even though ³ ³ the guidelines had already been tightened two months earlier. New ³ ³ guidelines are expected in a few months. ³ ³ ³ ³ And the House Committee on Government Operations plans to ³ ³ hold hearings next month to discuss what its chairman contends ³ ³ are abuses. ³ ³ ³ ³ Although there is no consensus in Congress on changing the ³ ³ system, it has come under attack from conservative Republicans ³ ³ like Representative Henry J. Hyde of Illinois as well as liberal ³ ³ Democrats like Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan. ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ - continued in next message - --- þ EZ 1.39 #136 þ Laissez Nous Faire! Los Angeles, CA þ RoseMail 2.10á: SmartNet #4001, DPS, Pcfic Palsds, CA (310)459-6053 =========================================================================== BBS: VICTORIA ONLINE BBS Date: 06-11-93 (11:43) Number: 4333 From: LESTER GARRETT Refer#: NONE To: ALL Recvd: NO Subj: THE WAR ON DRUGS - 2 OF 4 Conf: (267) S-PoliPhil --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - continued from previous message - 2/4 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ A Convenient Law for Prosecutors ³ ³ ³ ³ The idea of confiscating property involved in crime grew out ³ ³ of English common law, and the first forfeiture law here was ³ ³ enacted by the First congress in 1789. But it and subsequent laws ³ ³ were not widely used until the mid-1980's when the Government ³ ³ stepped up its prosecutions of narcotics and money-laundering ³ ³ violations. ³ ³ ³ ³ More than 100 Federal and state laws authorize seizures, ³ ³ with the most prominent ones enacted in the last 10 years to ³ ³ combat narcotics trafficking, racketeering and white collar ³ ³ crimes. The theory behind most of the laws is the same: the ³ ³ Government has a right to any property that is the fruit of a ³ ³ crime or was used in committing an offense. ³ ³ ³ ³ But the new laws have become the darling of prosecutors ³ ³ because they need significantly less evidence to seize criminals' ³ ³ property than to convict the criminals themselves. ³ ³ ³ ³ Rather than showing that a defendant is guilty beyond ³ ³ reasonable doubt, the standard used for criminal convictions, the ³ ³ Government in forfeiture cases must show only that it has ³ ³ probable cause to believe that the property was part of a ³ ³ criminal act. This lower standard is the same as the one ³ ³ necessary for an arrest or search warrant. And once the property ³ ³ is taken, defendants must often prove their innocence before they ³ ³ can get back their homes, cars or money. ³ ³ ³ ³ Prosecutors acknowledge that in tens of thousands of cases ³ ³ property is taken from individuals who are never charged or ³ ³ convicted of crimes. Rather, because it often costs more to hire ³ ³ lawyers than the property is worth, defendants either abandon ³ ³ their property or let the Government keep it in exchange for not ³ ³ being charged. ³ ³ ³ ³ Last year Federal immigration officials seized 17,000 cars ³ ³ from people suspected of smuggling undocumented workers across ³ ³ the border. Rather than indict the drivers or the illegal aliens, ³ ³ the Government takes their property and sends them back across ³ ³ the border, or else promises to return their property for a $500 ³ ³ fee. ³ ³ ³ ³ Cases of Abuses Lead to Criticism ³ ³ ³ ³ In part, changes in the courts and Congress and the ³ ³ Administration have been motivated by wider coverage od abusive ³ ³ cases in the news media. ³ ³ ³ ³ In Malibu, Calif., last October, Donald P. Scott was killed ³ ³ on his 200-acre ranch by local authorities who said they had ³ ³ information that Mr. Scott was growing marijuana. Mr Scott was ³ ³ shot after 31 people from eight law enforcement agencies went to ³ ³ the ranch and entered his house. ³ ³ ³ ³ Witnesses said the agents were greeted by Mr. Scott holding ³ ³ a handgun, which he refused to put down. They said the suspect, ³ ³ who was recovering from eye surgery, was drunk, half asleep and ³ ³ under the impression that the officers were process servers with ³ ³ a suit from his former wife. ³ ³ ³ ³ On March 30, the Ventura County District Attorney concluded ³ ³ that local and Federal authorities had no reliable information ³ ³ and that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office and other law ³ ³ enforcement authorities had been primarily motivated by a desire ³ ³ to seize the ranch. ³ ³ ³ ³ The broad latitude given to prosecutors about when to sue ³ ³ the forfeiture laws has raised questions about fair treatment. ³ ³ ³ ³ IN one of the starkest examples, the authorities confiscated ³ ³ the house of a couple in Hamden, Conn., after their grandson who ³ ³ lived with them was charged with selling marijuana. Prosecutors ³ ³ acknowledged that they had no evidence tying the grandparents to ³ ³ the activities of the grandson. ³ ³ ³ ³ Leslie C. Ohta, the Assistant United States Attorney in ³ ³ Hartford who ran the asset forfeiture program at the time, ³ ³ oversaw an operation that confiscated $26 million in property in ³ ³ six years. ³ ³ ³ ³ Last year, Ms. Ohta's 18-year-old son was arrested for ³ ³ selling drugs from her car. Although she was transferred to ³ ³ another unit of the United States Attorney's office, her property ³ ³ was never taken, and some defense lawyers complained that she was ³ ³ afforded more compassionate treatment than those whom she had ³ ³ prosecuted. ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ - continued in next message - --- þ EZ 1.39 #136 þ Laissez Nous Faire! Los Angeles, CA þ RoseMail 2.10á: SmartNet #4001, DPS, Pcfic Palsds, CA (310)459-6053 =========================================================================== BBS: VICTORIA ONLINE BBS Date: 06-11-93 (11:43) Number: 4334 From: LESTER GARRETT Refer#: NONE To: ALL Recvd: NO Subj: THE WAR ON DRUGS - 3 OF 4 Conf: (267) S-PoliPhil --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - continued from previous message - 3/4 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Debate on Need for Safeguards ³ ³ ³ ³ Supporters of the widespread use of forfeiture laws say it ³ ³ is a splendid turn that the fortunes of criminals are being used ³ ³ to combat crimes. And the proceeds have been a boon to state and ³ ³ local governments, which share in bounties they help collect. ³ ³ Since 1986, more than $1 billion has ben transferred to more than ³ ³ 3,000 state and local law-enforcement agencies. ³ ³ ³ ³ But critics say the heavy reliance on this money has had a ³ ³ corrosive effect on law enforcement. "Forfeiture has become an ³ ³ institutionalized part of Government," said David B. Smith, a ³ ³ former Federal prosecutor who has written a book on asset ³ ³ seizures. "Once anticipated forfeitures get earmarked for certain ³ ³ budgets, they become hard to stop, regardless of the quality of ³ ³ the cases." ³ ³ ³ ³ Indeed, internal memorandums that have recently come to ³ ³ light suggest that the need to meet a budget target has sometimes ³ ³ been at least as important to the Justice Department as fighting ³ ³ crime. In August 1990, Attorney General Dick Thornburgh warned ³ ³ all Federal prosecutors that the department was far short of its ³ ³ projection of $470 million in forfeiture deposits and that there ³ ³ were only three months remaining in fiscal year 1990. ³ ³ ³ ³ "We must significantly increase production to reach our ³ ³ budget target," the memorandum said. "Failure to achieve the $470 ³ ³ million projection would expose the department's forfeiture ³ ³ program to criticism and undermine confidence in our budget ³ ³ projections. Every effort must be made to increase forfeiture ³ ³ income during the remaining three months." ³ ³ ³ ³ The year before, the acting Deputy Attorney General, Edward ³ ³ S. G. Dennis Jr., had sent a similar warning. "If inadequate ³ ³ forfeiture resources are available to achieve the above goal, ³ ³ you will be expected to divert personnel from other activities or ³ ³ to seek assistance from other U.S. Attorneys' offices, the ³ ³ criminal division, and the executive office for United States ³ ³ Attorneys," Mr. Dennis wrote. ³ ³ ³ ³ Carey H. Copeland, director of the Justice Department's ³ ³ executive office for asset forfeiture, said the notification was ³ ³ not intended to encourage prosecutors to bring new cases as much ³ ³ as to wrap up existing ones quickly. ³ ³ ³ ³ "We call it squeezing the pipeline," he said. ³ ³ ³ ³ But former Justice Department officials said that at times, ³ ³ budget concerns sometimes played too great a role in setting ³ ³ policy about which cases to bring. ³ ³ ³ ³ "We had a situation in which the desire to deposit money ³ ³ into the forfeiture fund became the reason for being of ³ ³ forfeiture, eclipsing in certain measure the desire to effect ³ ³ fair enforcement of the laws as a matter of pure law enforcement ³ ³ objectives, said Michael Zeldin, a former Justice Department ³ ³ official who headed the asset forfeiture office, at a recent ³ ³ panel discussion on the subject. "The intelligent thing to have ³ ³ done would have been to pick your cases carefully and not ³ ³ overreach." ³ ³ ³ ³ Myles Malman, a former Federal prosecutor from Florida, ³ ³ said: "U.S. Attorney's offices are recognized positively by the ³ ³ amount of assets they seize. There is nothing inherently wrong ³ ³ with rewarding people for the assets they seize. But there has to ³ ³ be clear communication that they shouldn't sacrifice good ³ ³ judgment and conscionability for statistics. The system is ³ ³ subject to abuse." ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ - concluded in next message - --- þ EZ 1.39 #136 þ Laissez Nous Faire! Los Angeles, CA þ RoseMail 2.10á: SmartNet #4001, DPS, Pcfic Palsds, CA (310)459-6053 =========================================================================== BBS: VICTORIA ONLINE BBS Date: 06-11-93 (11:43) Number: 4335 From: LESTER GARRETT Refer#: NONE To: ALL Recvd: NO Subj: THE WAR ON DRUGS - 4 OF 4 Conf: (267) S-PoliPhil --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - concluded from previous message - 4/4 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Some Changes are Under Way ³ ³ ³ ³ Prosecutors say asset forfeiture will continue to be one of ³ ³ the most significant ways of penalizing criminals. ³ ³ ³ ³ "We feel, quite frankly, that we have been getting a bad ³ ³ press and that it is largely a successful program," said Mr. ³ ³ Copeland, of the office for asset forfeiture. ³ ³ ³ ³ Still, Mr. Copeland and other officials say that changes ³ ³ will be made soon to minimize the possibility of abusive cases. ³ ³ While the officials describe these adjustments in prosecutions as ³ ³ fine-tuning, lawmakers are trying to make more significant ³ ³ changes. ³ ³ ³ ³ Both Mr. Hyde and Mr. Conyers are drawing up bills that ³ ³ would shift the burden of proof for asset seizures onto the ³ ³ Government, a move that would significantly reduce the number of ³ ³ forfeitures. Mr. Conyers's would also make forfeiture possible ³ ³ only after criminal convictions. ³ ³ ³ ³ "People are beginning to ask questions," Mr. Conyers said. ³ ³ "And the new Administration has sent out signals that they are ³ ³ more sensitive to constitutional rights and civil liberties." ³ ³ ³ ³ Why the Hell do they call them, "Honorable"? ³ ³ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 ³ ³ ³ ³ Maximus 2.01wb ³ ³ Origin: TABOO BBS - The only RELIABLE feed for Vancouver! ³ ³ (1:105/105) ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ END TRANS Lô õG --- þ EZ 1.39 #136 þ Laissez Nous Faire! Los Angeles, CA þ RoseMail 2.10á: SmartNet #4001, DPS, Pcfic Palsds, CA (310)459-6053