Down the Rabbit Hole with Civil Asset Forfeiture: NMA E-Newsletter #494
As one of the NMA’s current national issues, Civil Asset Forfeiture or CAF is a program that allows the government at all levels to confiscate cash, cars and even homes from people who are suspected of criminal activity. Even if you are ruled innocent, your property is not necessarily returned; a trip to civil court […]
TheNewspaper.com Roundup: June 25, 2018
In this week’s TheNewspaper.com Roundup! –Kansas City lawsuit against Predatory Towing– –OH Supremes back Legislative Curb on Speed Cams– –US Supremes to Consider Car Seizure Constitutionality for minor crimes– Friday, June 22, 2018 Kansas City, Missouri Under Fire For Predatory Towing A motorist whose car was wrongly towed in Kansas City, Missouri, is calling for […]
TheNewspaper.com Roundup: June 4, 2018
In this week’s TheNewspaper.com Roundup! –Move Over Cams to Ticket Cars traveling speed limit (What?)– –IA Supremes cracks down on CAF auto seizures– –US Supremes Reject Driveway Snooping– Friday, June 1, 2018 Move Over Cameras To Ticket Vehicles Traveling The Speed Limit Drivers who are obeying the speed limit may still be at risk of […]
Civil Asset Forfeiture—Why should we care?
Originally created to break drug lords, civil asset forfeiture or CAF has now morphed into an anything-goes situation when it comes to law enforcement confiscating cash and property. Make no mistake, CAF is a constitutional rights issue. The Fourth Amendment protects not only a person’s right to privacy but freedom from arbitrary governmental intrusions. The […]
The Drug Whisperers
You may have heard about people getting speeding tickets not based on the reading of a radar gun or other instrument subject to empirical verification but solely on the basis of an armed government worker’s “training,” his estimation — that is, his or her opinion — about how fast the alleged offender was traveling. In […]
NMA Lobbying in DC, Part 2 – License to Steal: NMA E-Newsletter #465
I get annoyed by the overuse of certain clichéd buzzwords and catch phrases in our area of advocacy, terms like “big brother,” “nanny state,” and “taxation by citation” for instance. That isn’t to say that they don’t sneak into the NMA vernacular from time to time. In fact, I used the golden oldie “highway robbery” […]
NMA Lobbying in DC, Part 1 – Reeling in Traffic Enforcement: NMA E-Newsletter #464
Enabled by contributors to our Spring 2017 Campaign, the NMA is pursuing its 2017-18 National Legislative Agenda in Washington. More precisely the current focus is on two of the agenda items – eliminating federally funded ticket blitzes and restricting the bounds of civil asset forfeiture. Part 2 of this newsletter in coming weeks will describe […]
Next Generation Police Tools: NMA E-Newsletter #462
Traffic enforcement continues to go high tech beyond just the newest drone technology. Here are three recent examples of how police are using federal and state funding – some from assets seized from citizenry – to patrol motorists. Police Body Cameras In late October, results from a large study on police body cameras was released […]
Gotcha Speed Enforcement – Feds Are Complicit: NMA E-Newsletter #460
With great thanks to advocate Joe Bahen, the NMA played an active role in the development of the 2012-2016 Virginia Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). With the SHSP for the next five years now moving into the implementation phase, Joe continues to work with state officials to craft a safety roadmap that is effective and […]
TheNewspaper.com Roundup: August 28, 2017
In this week’s TheNewspaper.com Roundup! –CA Motorists fight back!– –NC Court Upholds stopping drivers for no reason— –Fed Judge strikes down IN Car Seizure Law (CAF)— Friday, August 25, 2017 California Residents Fight Back Against Road Diets State and local transportation departments around the country have been removing lanes of travel for cars and replacing […]