The most commonly committed felony in America is a cop lying under oath on a witness stand or committing perjury in a written report. Like their criminal twins, they thought it seemed like a good idea at the time. And, like their criminal counterparts, they believe the ends justify the means…i.e. they must ‘bend’ the law to enforce it–and make certain the ‘bad guy’ actually gets convicted. If that means deploying the fudge factor, so be it.
But cops aren’t alone in this scheme of orchestrating a police state. The US Supreme Court Justices have egged them on. Here’s a couple of examples before delving into the nuts & bolts of uniformed organizations arguably worse than the mob:
Community Property?–not when the police want a new break room microwave or cushier office chairs. Michigan (a community property State) set up a sting looking for Johns patronizing hookers in the tenderloin. A black man was busted by the undercover policewoman posing as a whore. His car was impounded as an item used in the commission of a crime. The department proceeded to auction it and take the proceeds for their own purposes. The man, a ne’er do well unemployed lout was married to a hard working black mother who was paid so poorly she still qualified for welfare benefits. By dint of hard work and years of struggling, she managed to feed her children, eventually saving enough to purchase the used car seized by the Michigan police. Naturally she objected. It was bad enough her shiftless unfaithful husband had been arrested, but now she once again had no transportation. She wanted it back. The police refused. They said it had been used in the commission of a crime even though she had known nothing of what her old man was up to. She then insisted the police at least turn over half of the proceeds to her since the vehicle was, under Michigan law, community property, i.e. half hers. They refused. She took the matter to court in Michigan and lost. She appealed. She lost. She eventually appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court. She lost. What’s theirs is theirs and what’s yours is theirs too!
A Florida yacht brokerage/leasing company owned an expensively handsome 2 masted schooner. They leased it to a company who signed an agreement to pay the rather steep monthly rent along with a deposit and initial fees. Not so long after, the boat disappeared and the monthly rental payments ceased. The owners began a concerted diligent search for their property, in an effort to recover it. Unbeknownst to them, the miscreants who had rented it used it to smuggle marijuana. At some point during the boat’s absence, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico authorities searched and seized the boat after finding evidence on it of the smuggling activities. They proceeded to auction the vessel and received a substantial sum for it. The actual owners were never notified by the Puerto Rican authorities nor was any attempt made by them to do so. These facts are not disputed in the case that ultimately wound its way to the US Supreme Court. Nevertheless, the Justices upheld Puerto Rico’s seizure, auction, and refusal to reimburse/pay the rightful owners despite the innocence or any wrong doing by those owners.
Upshot: A thief or smuggler can steal your property, use it unlawfully, and YOU (the victim) can be forced to pick up the tab in an action known as IN REM (as opposed to IN PERSONUM) against the property itself.
It’s a pretty sweet deal for the government with ancient origins dating back to trials where inanimate objects and cows were burned at the stake for crimes against the Crown. It’s also a stubbornly remaining stain of the anachronistic theory in government of The Divine Right Of Kings–i.e. The King/Sovereign (being God’s representative with dominion over all God’s subjects and realm) CAN DO NO WRONG…A bit offensive to the modern notion of a government of and by the people, eh? Incidentally, that’s also where the idea of sovereign immunity comes from, which remains part of our Anglo-Judeo legal system. Some consider it an oxymoron in an age where legitimacy is supposed to flow only from the consent of the governed.
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