Your property is guilty until you prove it innocent

This is not a joke. In the United States of America, the police can just take your stuff if they suspect it’s involved in a crime. It’s a process called “civil asset forfeiture”. For instance, if US police suspect you were involved in a crime, they arrest you and put you on a trial, then prosecuters present a reasonable evidence to prove your involvement. But, if police suspect that your car or house or money or any property you have, was involved in a crime, they can seize it, sell it and use the money for their budget.

The US police don’t really need any proof that you committed any crime, if they suspect any of your property, they can simply seize it and without any prior warrant.

The following video explains it further, published by Institute for Justice

5/10/2014, Last week tonight program with John Oliver presented in his show the Civil forfeiture, which is according to EZEKIEL EDWARDS, CRIMINAL LAW REFORM PROJECT, is a mechanism by which the State and the federal government in the US, can seize people’s property, without having convict them of a crime, adding that it is a legalized robbery by law enforcement.

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The Washington post published on 6/9/2014, that after 9/11, the government called on police to become the eyes and ears of homeland security on America’s highways.

There have been 61,998 cash seizures made on highways and elsewhere since 9/11 without search warrants or indictments through the Equitable Sharing Program, totaling more than $2.5 billion.

State and local authorities kept more than $1.7 billion of that while Justice, Homeland Security and other federal agencies received $800 million. Half of the seizures were below $8,800.

Only a sixth of the seizures were legally challenged, in part because of the costs of legal action against the government. But in 41 percent of cases — 4,455 — where there was a challenge, the government agreed to return money. The appeals process took more than a year in 40 percent of those cases and often required owners of the cash to sign agreements not to sue police over the seizures.

By way of example, and not limitation, Mandrel Stuart, a 35-year-old African American owner of a small barbecue restaurant in Staunton, Va., was stunned when police took $17,550 from him during a stop in 2012 for a minor traffic infraction on Interstate 66 in Fairfax. He rejected a settlement with the government for half of his money and demanded a jury trial. He eventually got his money back but lost his business because he didn’t have the cash to pay his overhead.  The guy said:“I paid taxes on that money. I worked for that money,” Stuart said. “Why should I give them my money?”

The US is practicing this civil forfeiture procedure since 9/11, and they legalized the illegal procedure to have full control on any terrorist act, even before it happened. If we presume that the US has given itself the right to take all illegal procedures and made it legal in order to protect its land and people with all possible and non reasonable ways, can this really be considered as an excuse, especially that this civil forfeiture includes suspicion of corruption, legalized robbery and violations of human civil rights!?

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There are many people in this world who consider the USA, the land of freedom, human rights and justice. I don’t see any justice or human rights in this civil forfeiture procedure, but all I see is a superior country raising the ideal slogan of humanity values and bragging on other countries. Maybe the developed countries are not on the same level of justice and freedom like the USA, but they certainly don’t apply such procedures and measures on their own people!

The USA, whether on the official or the non official level, always accuse the authorities in Egypt in general and the Egyptian police and the judiciary authorities in particular, of corruption and violations of human rights. Well, believe it or not, in Egypt “the third world country”, the authorities and the police don’t legalize robbery on the Egyptian people!

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