It will cost you. Highway robbery? Texas police seize black motorists' cash, cars Suit says cops force motorists, largely black, to forfeit cash and cars—or be charged with trumped-up crimes TENAHA, Texas— You can drive into this dusty fleck of a town near the Texas-Louisiana border if you're African-American, but you might not be able to drive out of it—at least not with your car, your cash, your jewelry or other valuables. That's because the police here allegedly have found a way to strip motorists, many of them black, of their property without ever charging them with a crime. Instead they offer out-of-towners a grim choice: voluntarily sign over your belongings to the town, or face felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes. Rest of Story
Wow. Charging motorists on their way to gamble in La., carrying lots of cash, with money laundering / dealing? That's enterprising. Per Wikipedia: Did this used to be a sunset town back in the day? Or is only the police force there (the article mentions the proceeds were used to buy a second cop car, so it can't be that large) racist?
That article dosent surprise me. I've been around a lot of those really small towns in East Texas. The cops can get away with it out there.
How can they do this? What about state government? They don't care I guess. How about federal government?
From an archive of the Chronicle's coverage, "Property seizure by police called 'highway piracy'": Sounds like a nice little racket. Two cops, the county DA, and the mayor presiding over his fiefdom. I missed the .pdf of the seizure form the first time through the Tribune story. That's pretty audacious of Officer Whatley. How many of these forms were wadded up & tossed the moment the cash was handed over?
Liberals want somebody to rule them then complain when they do. This is also another product of the war on drugs. Prohibition just breeds corruption. If you want to police the police you need a police to police the police but you will also need police to police the policing police.
Sad thing is, Chicago cops do the same thing on the South and West sides of the city. This is just like the Saudi culture thread. Way to go, Trib.
What in the flying f*** does this have to do with liberals? How are liberals proponents of the drug war? Are you in the right thread?
WTF are you talking about? No one should complain about this practice? It's ok to just take property from law abiding citizens while threatening fake charges? I'm kind of confused. How is this a liberal or conservative issue?
Whatever you do, don't let your vanilla cone be dipped in the chocolate sauce. Your change will be forfeit to government seizure. I'm pretty sure both liberals and conservatives believe in the police, and both want them to be corruption-free . Libertarians may be anti-police; they might prefer marauding bands of thieves to be able to roam free, only absent the badges. The statute might be dependent on the drug war, but the second sentence is a bit of a stretch. Prohibition of murder or rape doesn't seem to be similarly corrupting, or, if it is, possibly worth mitigating the potential corrupting influence. I'll settle for a competent Internal Affairs or decent federal prosecutors, Juvenal?
This is purely a rabble-rousing article. The liberals such as SamFisher love to make cops look bad. That's pathetic. Let's wait for the court to decide on this case, as opposed to SamFisher's method of trial by news headline. TIA
I'd stay away from that whole part of state. I've lived all over tx and I gotta tell you, most of the people I met in that area were the most stupidest, most racist, and most xenophobic bunch of asstards I have had the misfortune to come across.
This article was probably written by someone who just got a speeding ticket the night before and is upset.
I realize this is puffery, but shouldn't the ultra-conservative response be indignation over this as well? After all, the Tenaha police, after seizing only their cash/cars/cellphones, let these criminals go on their merry ways, without jail time and often without filing any actual charges.
It might not be, but then again, why do all of the liberal and conservative posters have opposing views on the issue so far?
I would wait till an *actual* republican with an opinion worth readin chimes in....attaching the conservative opinion to those two clowns up there just isn't fair to real conservatives. I think it is safe to say EVERYONE wants local governments and police forces that do their jobs with a minimum of corruption...lib or conservative...it dont matter...
