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Indiana Civil Forfeiture Case


Bobref

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Thank you for the update Bob.  This is indeed good news.

Supreme Court Delivers Unanimous Victory for Asset Forfeiture Challenge: http://reason.com/blog/2019/02/20/supreme-court-delivers-unanimous-victory

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States are bound by the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against excessive fines and fees when they seek to seize property or other assets from individuals charged or convicted of a crime, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday.

It's a decision that hands a major victory to critics of civil asset forfeiture, and it opens another avenue to legal challenges against that widely used (and often abused) practice by which states and local governments can seize cars, cash, homes, and pretty much anything else that is suspected of being used to commit a crime.

The case before the Supreme Court, Timbs v. Indiana, involved the seizure of a $42,000 Land Rover SUV from Tyson Timbs, who was arrested in 2015 for selling heroin to undercover police officers. He pleaded guilty to his crimes and was sentenced to one year of house arrest and five years of probation. On top of that, the state of Indiana seized his 2012 Land Rover—which he had purchased with money received from his late father's life insurance payout, not with the proceeds of drug sales—on the ground that it had been used to commit a crime.

 

Timbs challenged that seizure, arguing that taking his vehicle amounted to an additional fine on top of the sentence he had already received. The Indiana Supreme Court rejected that argument, solely because the U.S. Supreme Court had never explicitly stated that the Eighth Amendment applied to the states.

On Wednesday, the high court did exactly that.

"For good reason, the protection against excessive fines has been a constant shield throughout Anglo-American history," wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the opinion. "Excessive fines can be used, for example, to retaliate against or chill the speech of political enemies," she wrote, or can become sources of revenue disconnected from the criminal justice system.

Indeed, some local governments do use fines and fees as a means to raise revenue, and that has created a perverse incentive to target residents. After the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a federal investigation into the city government found that 20 percent of its general fund came from criminal fines. And Ferguson is not alone in relying heavily on revenue from fines. Making clear that the Eighth Amendment applies to the states will make it far easier to challenge unreasonable fines and fees—including not just asset forfeiture cases, but also situations where local governments hit homeowners with massive civil penalties for offenses such as unapproved paint jobs or Halloween decorations.

Some of those cases are already getting teed up. As C.J. Ciaramella wrote in this month's issue of Reason, a federal class action civil rights lawsuit challenging the aggressive asset forfeiture program in Wayne County, Michigan, that was filed in December argues that the county's seizure of a 2015 Kia Soul after the owner was caught with $10 of marijuana should be deemed an excessive fine.

More broadly, Timbs is a good reminder of how ridiculous the argument in favor of civil asset forfeiture really is. During oral arguments in November, Indiana's solicitor general got boxed into a corner by Justice Stephen Breyer, who managed to twist the government's lawyer into arguing that Indiana should be allowed to seize vehicles for as small an offense as driving 5 mph over the speed limit, which literally elicited laughter in the courtroom.

After Wednesday's ruling, there's a better chance that more civil asset forfeiture cases will be laughed right out of court for being what they obviously are: unconstitutional, excessive punishments that don't fit the crime.

 

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In somewhat related news: Michigan May Stop Police From Seizing Property Without Getting a Conviction First: http://reason.com/blog/2019/02/26/michigan-may-stop-police-from-seizing-pr

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In 2017, Michigan police seized property from nearly 1,000 people who were never convicted of a crime. Some of them were never even arrested.

Those numbers—the result of new reporting requirements passed by the state in 2015—have spurred a bipartisan push among Michigan lawmakers to further restrict the practice of civil asset forfeiture, which allows police to seize cash and property suspected of being connected to criminal activity, even if the owner is never convicted, or sometimes never charged, with a crime.

The Michigan Senate passed a civil asset forfeiture reform bill last week that would require police to obtain a criminal conviction to seize assets valued under $50,000, or consent from the owner to relinquish the property. The bill is now being considered by the state house.

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Two changes to Michigan law, Nelson says, "opened the floodgates" for civil asset forfeiture in the state. in 2008, Michigan legalized medical marijuana, and police began zealously going after violators—and their property, no matter how loosely connected to drug sales—for forfeiture. Then in 2011, Michigan removed the requirement that forfeiture revenue only fund narcotics enforcement, allowing it to be used for general police budgets with minimal oversight.

"Going around the state and listening to people, [police] were seizing things like money out of birthday cards and lawnmowers, which to me went against the proceeds aspect," Nelson says. "To me, it's not the same thing."

In one case, Nelson says police seized a man and woman's property because their son was growing marijuana close to their house.

"It led [police] to push the law to the edges of what they could do," Nelson continued. "It could be easily abused, and it was being stretched as far as it could possibly be stretched."

According to Skorup's data, for instance, the Wayne State University Police Department seized $9 in cash in a 2017 case that never resulted in a criminal conviction. The Roseville Police Department seized $5 and a cell phone in another case that ultimately did end in a conviction.

While the reporting requirements passed in Michigan in 2015 track what police departments seize, it doesn't track what they spend it on. The head prosecutor of Macomb County, Michigan, is currently under scrutiny from county officials after a public records lawsuit revealed more than $100,000 in questionable expenditures, including using forfeiture funds for office furniture, birthdays, and retirement parties.

More than half of all states have passed some form of asset forfeiture reform in the past decade. Police have often opposed those reforms, saying asset forfeiture is a vital tool to disrupt drug trafficking.

Skorup says that, while there are large seizures that net huge amounts of cash, the data shows that it's used most often against petty amounts of money and people who have few resources to defend themselves, rather than El Chapo.

Of the total 2,078 cash seizures by Michigan law enforcement in 2017, the median value was $396, and the average value was $2,042. Overall, Michigan police seized $1.7 million in cash that was not accompanied by a criminal conviction.

"If you look at these files, we're not talking about a couple of flashy cases," he says. "We're talking about hundreds and hundreds of people that are never charged, or even hundreds more where they're charged, found not guilty, and the law enforcement proceeds with the forfeiture anyways."

Welcome news.  I hope this legislation passes.

 

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  • 4 months later...

Indiana Is Still Arguing That It's Constitutional To Seize Your Car for Driving 5 MPH Over the Speed Limit: https://reason.com/2019/07/03/indiana-is-still-arguing-that-its-constitutional-to-seize-your-car-for-driving-5-mph-over-the-speed-limit/

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After losing at the U.S Supreme Court, the state of Indiana still hasn't given up its argument that there are virtually no Eighth Amendment limits on what it can seize using civil asset forfeiture.

In oral arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court last week, Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher said the state's position that it would be constitutional to seize any and every car that went over the speed limit—a line of argument that elicited laughter from the nation's highest court last year—hasn't budged.

"This is the position that we already staked out in the Supreme Court when I was asked by Justice Breyer whether a Bugatti can be forfeited for going over five miles over the speed limit," Fisher said. "Historically the answer to that question is yes, and we're sticking with that position here."

The Indiana Supreme Court is now reconsidering the case of Tyson Timbs' $42,000 Land Rover, and whether the state's 2015 seizure of Timbs' car after he was convicted of a drug felony violated his Eighth Amendment protections against excessive fines and fees.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Indiana Supreme Court's ruling that Timbs could not challenge the seizure on Eighth Amendment grounds because the excessive fines clause had not yet been applied, or "incorporated," to the states.

The ruling opened up a new avenue for civil liberties groups to challenge asset forfeiture. It also demonstrated the immense power of the practice, which allows police to seize and forfeit property suspected of being connected to criminal activity. The Indiana Supreme Court will now have to decide how to determine whether a civil forfeiture is excessive or not, a decision that could either check or reinforce the state government's power in these cases.

Lawyers for the Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning public interest law firm, argue that the seizure of Timbs' Land Rover, which was not purchased with drug proceeds and was worth four times the maximum fine for the crime Timbs committed, was a grossly disproportional punishment.

After the Indiana Supreme Court ruled against Timbs, the Institute for Justice successfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

During oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court last year, Fisher argued on behalf of Indiana that the excessive fines clause, even if it applied to the states, did not apply to the practice of civil asset forfeiture, which operates under the legal fiction that it is an action against the property itself, not the owner.

Both the liberal and conservative wings of the Supreme Court have expressed skepticism about civil asset forfeiture in past rulings, and they were not impressed by Indiana's argument. 

Justice Stephen Breyer, following Fisher's logic to its natural conclusion, forced Fisher to admit that it would then be constitutional to seize any car going over the speed limit, no matter how slight the infraction or how expensive.

 

TimbsBreyer2.jpg U.S. Supreme Court

 

TimbsBreyer.jpg U.S. Supreme Court

The state of Indiana, although forced to recognize that the Eighth Amendment applies to civil forfeiture, now insists that the test that should apply to determine whether the seizure was excessive is not the proportionality, but rather whether the government can prove a nexus between Timbs' car and the illegal activity—a standard that would put virtually no check on the amount of property police could seize as long there was some connection to a crime.

Indiana Supreme Court Justice Loretta Rush pressed Fisher again on this point: "So where's the limits? If the state decides you're going over x miles per hour so we're going to take your car, is there any limit to that government power?"

"No, look, I've gone out on a limb on the Bugatti, and I don't think I'm going back," Fisher responded.

Institute for Justice lawyer Sam Gedge says in a statement to Reason that Indiana "has resorted to an increasingly dangerous view of governmental power" over the years it has been fighting to keep Timbs' car.

"In the State's view, it can constitutionally forfeit a Bugatti that goes five miles over the speed limit. And the State insists that it can take any property from any person who has ever struggled with drug addiction," Gedge says. "That boundless view of governmental power cannot be squared with the Constitution."

Why this government lust for taking and individuals property?  Is the state after a certain time able to keep or sell these assets?   Is the state of Indiana really that hard up for cash?

 

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10 hours ago, BARRYOSAMA said:

State laws should take precedent.  Local control is always better

I generally agree.  But that also means state and local laws should be scrutinized just as much if not more that federal laws.

 

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  • 3 months later...

The civil forfeiture case, in which the Indiana Supreme Court's treatment of civil forfeitures was ruled unconstitutional by SCOTUS, has been remanded to the trial court in Grant County to determine whether the requested forfeiture was justified under an "excessiveness" analysis. In other words, the trial court will determine whether the punishment fits the crime. https://www.theindianalawyer.com/articles/majority-justices-remand-land-rover-forfeiture-case-for-excessiveness-analysis?utm_source=il-daily&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=2019-10-28

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  • 2 months later...

Not in Indiana but asset forfeiture madness:  https://reason.com/2019/12/30/missouri-cops-used-federal-loophole-to-seize-2-6-million-from-drivers-who-they-never-charged-with-crimes/

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A new report uncovers a shocking civil asset forfeiture practice that allowed Missouri police to seize at least $2.6 million during traffic stops in a single year. 

As part of a larger series on national asset forfeiture cases organized by the Pulitzer Center, St. Louis Public Radio reported that St. Charles County law enforcement coerced at least 39 unsuspecting motorists into signing over their assets in 2018.

According to the report, officers would lie in wait for a car committing a minor traffic violation. Upon seeing the minor violation, officers would then pull the car over, question the motorist, and then direct them to a private towing lot owned by Superior Towing. While in the lot, officers would ask more questions and search the vehicle, all in the hopes of finding large amounts of cash or connections to drugs.

If a trained police dog smelled marijuana on the cash, officers then gave the motorists two options: they could go to jail, or sign their possessions away to the department and leave with a traffic ticket.

In the 39 documented stops, no criminal charges were filed. A third of the targets were stopped and taken to the lot after midnight. Additionally, nearly half of the drivers had either Hispanic or Asian surnames.

The Institute for Justice gives Missouri a B+ for its civil asset forfeiture laws. Technically, state law requires criminal conviction or a guilty plea before forfeiture, and the assets are supposed to go towards schools, not law enforcement.

So how did St. Charles cops get away with their shady stops?

According to the report, the answer lies in the federal Equitable Sharing program. The Department of Justice provides a guide to the program, which allows for the "potential to share federal forfeiture proceeds with cooperating state and local law enforcement agencies." By turning over their convictionless assets to the federal government, St. Charles law enforcement can split the funds 80-20.

A legislative effort to close this loophole and force law enforcement to comply with state law was defeated this year after the local police lobby quietly campaigned against it, calling it "anti-police." The reform effort was led by Rep. Shamed Dogan (Baldwin), a libertarian Republican who has been trying to reform convictionless civil asset forfeiture practices in the state for several years.

 

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  • 3 months later...

An update on the Indiana case that went to the SCOTUS and was remanded all the way back down to the trial court for reconsideration in light of an intervening decision. The original trial judge has issued an order requiring the state to return the seized SUV “immediately,” finding that the seizure of the vehicle was a disproportionately harsh punishment ... in addition to the felony conviction, prison, etc.  I recall that @Muda69 was quite outspoken on this topic. Imagine that! 😂🤣

https://www.theindianalawyer.com/articles/judge-orders-return-of-seized-land-rover-that-led-to-scotus-civil-forfeiture-case?utm_source=breaking-news&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=2020-04-28

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6 minutes ago, Bobref said:

An update on the Indiana case that went to the SCOTUS and was remanded all the way back down to the trial court for reconsideration in light of an intervening decision. The original trial judge has issued an order requiring the state to return the seized SUV “immediately,” finding that the seizure of the vehicle was a disproportionately harsh punishment ... in addition to the felony conviction, prison, etc.  I recall that @Muda69 was quite outspoken on this topic. Imagine that! 😂🤣

https://www.theindianalawyer.com/articles/judge-orders-return-of-seized-land-rover-that-led-to-scotus-civil-forfeiture-case?utm_source=breaking-news&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=2020-04-28

Thank you for the update Bobref.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Another happy update:

Indiana Returns Land Rover Seized 7 Years Ago in Landmark Asset Forfeiture Case 

https://reason.com/2020/05/27/indiana-returns-land-rover-seized-7-years-ago-in-landmark-asset-forfeiture-case/

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It's been almost seven years to the day since the state of Indiana seized resident Tyson Timbs' Land Rover for a drug crime, launching a legal odyssey that would take Timbs all the way to the Supreme Court and lead to a landmark ruling on civil asset forfeiture.

On Tuesday, Timbs arrived home to find that same Land Rover back in his driveway.

Although the Indiana Attorney General is still appealing Timbs' case at the Indiana Supreme Court—the third time the court has been asked to consider the tangled case of Timbs' SUV—his car has been returned for the moment, according to the Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning public interest law firm that represents Timbs and has challenged forfeiture laws in several states. 

"For years, this case has been important not just for me, but for thousands of people who are caught up in forfeiture lawsuits," Tyson said in a press release. "To me, the State's refusal to give back my car has never made sense; if they're trying to rehabilitate me and help me help myself, why do you want to make things harder by taking away the vehicle I need to meet with my parole officer or go to a drug recovery program or go to work? Forfeiture only makes it more challenging for people in my position to clean up and be contributing members of society."

Timbs pleaded guilty in 2015 to selling heroin to undercover police officers and was sentenced to one year of house arrest and five years of probation. But Indiana also used a practice known as civil asset forfeiture to seize his $42,000 Land Rover, which Timbs purchased with money from his late father's life insurance payout, not the proceeds of drug sales.

Under civil asset forfeiture laws, police can seize property—cash, cars, and even houses—suspected of being connected to criminal activity. Law enforcement groups say civil asset forfeiture is a critical tool for disrupting drug trafficking and other organized crime. 

However, civil liberties groups say the practice creates perverse profit incentives for police and is disproportionately used against low-level offenders like Timbs, and in many cases against people who aren't even charged with a crime. More than half of U.S. states have passed some form of asset forfeiture reforms in response to these concerns.

Timbs challenged the seizure, arguing that taking his vehicle, which was worth four times the maximum fine for the crime he committed, amounted to an unconstitutionally excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment. The Indiana Supreme Court rejected that argument on the grounds that the U.S. Supreme Court had never explicitly ruled that the Eighth Amendment applies to the states—a doctrine known as "incorporation."

Last February, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Eighth Amendment and its protections against excessive fines and fees applied to states. "For good reason, the protection against excessive fines has been a constant shield throughout Anglo-American history," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in the Court's opinion. The ruling opened up a new avenue for plaintiffs like Timbs trying to challenge asset forfeiture in court.

The Supreme Court, however, did not rule on what constituted an "excessive" fine. It kicked that question back to the Indiana Supreme Court, which created a three-prong test last October to determine when a government fine or seizure is disproportionate to the alleged offense. The Indiana Supreme Court in turn sent Timbs' case back to a state trial court to be reconsidered.

In April, an Indiana judge ruled that, under the new test, the seizure of Timbs' Land Rover—"a tool essential to maintaining employment, obtaining treatment, and reducing the likelihood that he would ever again commit another criminal offense"—was unconstitutionally excessive and ordered the vehicle returned.

The Indiana Attorney General is now appealing that decision to the state supreme court, again.

"Tyson's case has gone through every level of the American judicial system—in some instances, twice," Institute for Justice senior attorney Wesley Hottot said in a statement. "The state's relentless use of its forfeiture machine is—and continues to be—a profoundly unjust exercise of power, and it underscores that civil forfeiture is one of the greatest threats to property rights in the nation today."

Sickening that the Indiana Attorney General is still pursuing this.  A complete waste of taxpayers's dollars and the time of Indiana state attorneys.

As one of the comments to this update states:

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"This is always the rub for me in cases like this. When a private entity loses a judgement in court they pay restitution from their own pockets. This is a punishment because they cannot simply will more wealth into being. When the state loses a judgement in court it is the people themselves who pay the restitution. The state’s “budget” is never affected. No one will be held accountable. As far as the state is concerned they are probably on the net happy to see forfeitures contested. That there’s an employment program for state defense attorneys. As for the police department, if they didn’t get a few grand for auctioning off this vehicle they’ll just go seize a few more."

Also I wonder if the State kept up on the regularly scheduled maintenance of Mr. Timb's vehicles in the 7 YEARS it took them to return it?

 

 

 

Edited by Muda69
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9 minutes ago, DanteEstonia said:

No, because RSM is only done on actively driven vehicles.

I wouldn't want to immediately drive a car that has essentially sat for seven years.  Any gasoline in the tank needs to be drained and refilled,  the oil and filter need to be replaced.  The battery needs replacement. The tires need to be thoroughly inspected, sitting on (probably) concrete in one position for seven years may have caused them to go out of round.  

Is the state of Indiana going to pay for these services?  Should they?

 

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