Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, introduced a bill this session aiming to ensure the use of civil asset forfeiture is not abused. Michigan ranked among the five states with the least amount of citizen protections against civil forfeiture, according to a 2010 report by the nonprofit law firm, Institute for Justice. In June, the Michigan House approved an eight-bill package to start reforming the state's seizure process. "I've changed my whole life."Įxperiences like Rivers' have fueled the legislative revolt. "That had no relevance to why he was trying to take my money," Rivers said. He previously received probation for concealed-weapon and felony assault charges. A gun charge in 2011 landed Rivers two years in prison. I didn't want to seem like I wasn't cooperating," said Rivers, who believes he was targeted because he's young and black. Among his video and music equipment, the agent found the cash - still in the withdrawal envelope from Chase Bank, Rivers said. Rivers said the agent that day questioned many people in his Amtrak car, but asked to search only his bag. Officials say agents usually look for "indicators," such as whether travelers buy an expensive one-way ticket with cash, or if they are traveling to or from a city known as a hot spot for drug activity. Sean Waite, the agent in charge of the DEA office in Albuquerque, declined to comment on Rivers' case. Property owners have no right to counsel or, in most cases, a pre-seizure hearing. Under the law, the burden is placed on a property owner to contest the seizure within a set time period and prove the property was obtained legitimately. Unlike criminal forfeiture, conviction is not required in civil forfeiture. He hired a lawyer to help get his money back, but experts say the process likely will take many months. Rivers was never charged with a crime or formally detained in connection with the mid-April episode. Drug Enforcement Administration agent wouldn't change his mind even after Rivers put him on the phone with his mother, who confirmed his story. "My initial reaction was, like, I'm being robbed," recalled Rivers, 22. There, a federal agent stripped him of $16,000 in cash that he'd saved to shoot a music video in California. The push for reform is prompted by stories like that of Joseph Rivers, a Romulus resident who was on a train from Dearborn to Los Angeles when his journey ended abruptly in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Law-enforcement officials defend the practice as essential to slowing drug traffickers and fighting crime syndicates. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, say they want to stop abuses. The state House and at least two members of Michigan's congressional delegation are trying to put restrictions on state and federal law enforcement's seizure of property that officers suspect of being involved in criminal activity - even when charges aren't eventually filed.Ĭritics such as U.S. Seizing never stops, for growth has no ceiling. Why would it go this far to stop? To discover more of life, seize more of its meaning for you.The controversial police tactic of seizing cash and other property without a warrant or indictment is generating a backlash in Michigan. Most seizing in life happens in the confines of the mind. For internal seizing is greater than the external. Strong is he who captures a city, but mighty is he who captures himself. Seizing is immediate obedience, if it is commanded of the Lord. It is overcoming avoidance if it comes from the heart. It is fully understanding from ten views if it comes from the mind. Seizing is willing to let go of a past in order to grab a new future. It throws its soul into its goal. Its diligence is relentless. Seizing is pleasing to the Father when it is done in righteousness. Seizing is life-giving when it’s wholehearted and full of good. Seizing doesn’t settle for evolution, but uses revolution to arrive at a better state. Seizing is always on sentry for the very next opportunity. It doesn’t wait for the opportunity of a lifetime it acts within the lifetime of the opportunity. Seizing can be thinking on purpose, for a mind will run its own path unless taken by force. Seizing only dies when the hope of its victory fades. Seizing is a spring-loaded resolve ready for growth. It leverages time to capture its hope. Seizing starts in the heart, then manifests in the mind. It grows in power as it studies its opponent. It takes by force what resists change.
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