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Institute for Justice attorney Scott Bullock, as quoted in “The Cash Machine” Civil asset forfeiture is basically a rule that if a police officer “suspects” you of a crime, they can take your stuff. And guess what? They always find large amounts of cash suspicious, especially if the owner of the cash happens not to be white. Once your property has been confiscated, the burden of proof is on you, not the police, to show that you didn’t get it from any criminal activity. Even if you personally are cleared of all charges, that may not matter: “Technically, it’s the property — not its owner — that’s being accused of criminality, which means the property can be subject to forfeiture whether or not its owner is ever convicted of a crime.” It’s not hard to imagine how such a policy might be abused, but even so it’s amazing to consider that, in Philly, just 0.6% of those fighting a confiscation actually get their property back. And this isn’t a small-time thing. “Between 2004 and 2009, Philadelphia collected some $36 million via civil forfeiture,” mainly from young, black men. “Civil asset forfeiture” is too kind a term; this is just theft. (via hipsterlibertarian) |
The future of HIP HOP Joey badass and Bigg Dogg at the premiers studio In downtown manhattan
This kid is the truth.
A little knowledge about my state that I’m not proud of, but need to share anyway. Currently, 1 in 86 ADULTS in Louisiana are incarcerated. That’s not counting juveniles, people waiting for sentencing, or the ones who have already served their time. This makes Louisiana the prison capital of the world. And with also being the most dangerous state to live in, the highest murder rate, the most police per capita, and the privatized prison system for profit, it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon.
Having survived two assassination attempts, Mexican mayor found beaten to death
- Maria Santos Gorrostieta had been stabbed, beaten and burned
- She defied Mexico’s powerful drug gangs, who twice tried to gun her down previously
- She was kidnapped in broad daylight in front of her terrified daughter
- The former mayor leaves behind three children
This is an absolutely heart-wrenching and tragic story. If anybody ever dismisses wanting to end the nonsensical US drug war and the cause of drug legalization as something frivolous and self-serving to potheads, make sure you link them this article. 50000 Mexican people have died in cartel violence since 2006. How in the world do people anywhere in the world find this acceptable?
Jesus fucking Christ
Videos From Syria Appear to Show First Confirmed Hit of Aircraft by Surface-to-Air Missile.
On the At War blog, an update to the Syrian war. Here. We’ll have more soon.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS
Screen grabs from videos that appear to show the downing today of an Mi-8 transport helicopter by a heat-seeking missile, over a suburb of Aleppo.
