Tennessee Legislators Can't Stand Up To Cops; Keep Federal Loophole Open For Nashville Law Enforcement
from the asset-forfeiture-gone-mad dept
Earlier this year, the Tennessee legislature passed some very minimal asset forfeiture reforms. The bill, signed into law in May, does nothing more than require periodic reporting on use of forfeiture funds and the occasional audit.
What it doesn't do is require convictions. It also doesn't close the federal loophole, which allows Tennessee law enforcement to bypass state laws if they feel they're too restrictive. Given that state law doesn't really do anything to curb forfeiture abuse, the federal adoption lifeline isn't used quite as often in Tennessee as it is by law enforcement agencies in others states with laws that are actually worth a damn.
But local cops really really really want the federal loophole open. They've been applying pressure to Nashville legislators and it has had the expected effect. (h/t Daniel Horwitz)
Nashville on Tuesday renewed its participation in a controversial 1980s-era federal program that's allowed the police department to keep proceeds from seized assets taken from people suspected of crimes involving drugs.
After spirited debate, the Metro Council voted 25-5 with two abstentions to renew Metro's participation in the "equitable sharing program" with the U.S. Department of Justice and federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
The loophole Nashville law enforcement barely needs will remain open. And it will remain open because… well, budgets are tight and we can't keep asking state taxpayers to make up the difference.
Councilwoman Jacobia Dowell, who also voted for renewing the agreement, said not renewing the program would leave a hole in the city's budget.
"I have zero confidence in this council body to find $150,000," Dowell said, noting the city's budget struggles this past year.
So, instead of all taxpayers, Councilwoman Dowell wants to have just a few taxpayers pitch in to help cops -- taxpayers who happen to have property law enforcement thinks they didn't acquire legally.
Or not even taxpayers! Why even trouble those who reside in the state to give law enforcement some extra cash. Why not just take money from people leaving the state? That's the way Tennessee's "drug interdiction" teams work. According to law enforcement, they want to stop the flow of drugs into the state. That doesn't really explain their actions:
While drugs generally come from Mexico on the eastbound side of Interstate 40 and the drug money goes back on the westbound side, the investigation discovered police making 10 times as many stops on the so-called "money side."
Law enforcement doesn't seem to mind the drugs coming in, but it's certainly not going to let the cash head back out. Councilwoman Dowell thinks if cops can't lift money from drug dealers, they won't be able to buy the stuff they need to continue to allow drugs to flow into the state.
What Dowell absolutely doesn't want to see is her poorest constituents asked to dig even deeper to keep the drug interdiction units in business.
She said [the budget shortfall] would end up coming from Nashville's "most distressed and the impoverished communities."
Bless her heart. Oh wait.
Although civil asset forfeiture affects people of every economic status and race, a growing array of studies indicates that low-income individuals and communities of color are hit hardest. The seizing of cash, vehicles, and homes from low-income individuals and people of color not only calls law enforcement practices into question, but also exacerbates the economic struggles that already plague those communities.
None of the rationale makes sense. The drug teams that don't actually catch drugs need money to keep doing the job they're not doing and they need to take it from someone since the state's not going to help them out. The people who are going to help them out are either people leaving the state or low-income residents.
The problem is that when you say someone's going to have to come up with $150,000, someone will have to come up with it. And when that number increases -- and it will -- the shortfall comes directly from residents and other US citizens who have their belongings taken from them without even being accused of a crime.
$150,000 is only the cut from federal sharing. That's Nashville law enforcement's manageable money habit. There's more to it than the federal slush fund. Nashville law enforcement has created a drug enforcement ecosystem that can't be sustained without the seizure of millions of dollars every year. Even prosecutors recognize the problem.
[Nashville County District Attorney Glenn] Funk stated that on his first day as Nashville’s District Attorney, he was told that $1.7 million to $2 million would be needed to be brought in through seizures in order to keep the drug task force in operation. He also expressed concern that individuals were indicted or subject to forfeiture proceedings who would not otherwise have been if civil asset forfeiture were not a “cash cow.” He stated that officers sometimes target people with high-value cars so they can forfeit them and put the cars into service. General Funk provided these as examples of problems that arise “when we don’t have legislative oversight over the funds and assets . . . that are being seized.”
If you want to start fixing forfeiture abuse, start with the federal loophole. Agencies will realize it's not impossible to live without this money. And from there, you can start cutting them off from the main supply by eliminating civil asset forfeiture altogether by adding a conviction requirement. But if you can't even make this small move, you're not serious about fixing the problem. That's Nashville's problem -- one that harms citizens while keeping law enforcement flush with funds they really didn't earn.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: asset forfeiture, civil asset forfeiture, forfeiture, law enforcement, nashville, police, tennessee
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Potential Federal Relief on the horizon...maybe
There might be some relief on this whole civil asset forfieture thing coming from the Supreme Court based upon excessive fines. Too bad they aren't looking at the whole forfieture without a conviction part of the issue.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
For-profit 'police' work
Councilwoman Jacobia Dowell, who also voted for renewing the agreement, said not renewing the program would leave a hole in the city's budget.
"I have zero confidence in this council body to find $150,000," Dowell said, noting the city's budget struggles this past year.
Well if they need money that badly I'd suggest starting with her pay, along with anyone else who voted in favor of robbery-at-badgepoint, since it's clear they've got no interest in actually representing their constituents, and as such it's a waste of funds to continue to pay them for a job they've no interest in doing.
While drugs generally come from Mexico on the eastbound side of Interstate 40 and the drug money goes back on the westbound side, the investigation discovered police making 10 times as many stops on the so-called "money side."
And this nicely highlights what their actual goals are with the program, exposing their lies for what they are. For however much they might claim to be concerned about drugs entering the state, they are vastly more concerned about preventing money leaving it.
[Nashville County District Attorney Glenn] Funk stated that on his first day as Nashville’s District Attorney, he was told that $1.7 million to $2 million would be needed to be brought in through seizures in order to keep the drug task force in operation
Bad enough that robbery-at-badgepoint provides a very real financial incentive to steal anything that isn't nailed down and/or on fire(followed by breaking out the crowbars and fire-extinguishers), but when they factor it into the budget things will inevitably go from bad to really bad, because that takes the incentive they already have to grab anything and ramps it up even further with the knowledge that if they don't steal enough, then the program might end up shutting down or their budget might get cut.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Potential Federal Relief on the horizon...maybe
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Stopping drugs on their way into a destination state is just throwing away money. Stop a trafficker? All you get is dope that the state can't re-sell (easily at least) and a vehicle. But if you let the drugs in you get:
Stopping the flow of drugs on their way in would be interfering with a doesn't-get-much-better-than-this business model.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
The money should be spent on rehab rather than cops. It doesn't work all the time, but it does work.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
Drug rehab, public defender's office, homeless shelters/food kitchens... Hell, I'd rather see the money literally destroyed than see it in the hands of the police, as they should never profit from doing their gorram jobs, especially in a way that the more crime(or accusations of crime, aimed at property and occasionally at people) the better off they are.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hi We are Avg Contact Number!
I was badly stuck with my AVG antivirus, this blog provided answers to a lot of my questions thanks a lot for posting this here, keep writing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I mean it might be nice for them to be on the receiving end of their policies so they can actually understand the damage they are inflicting on others b/c they refuse to do the hard job of running the state even if it meant raising taxes...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Sanctioned Theviery
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Sanctioned Theviery
[ link to this | view in thread ]
shit kicker piracy
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: shit kicker theft
This makes a good case for avoiding Tenn. at all costs. They have codified theft based on a cost/benefit bases as a theft.
FTFY.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]