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Drug wars — The sheriff’s stash
IN 2005 the Montgomery County district attorney’s office held a party at the county fair in east Texas. They had beer, liquor and a margarita machine. The district attorney, Mike McDougal, at first denied that this had been paid for by drug money. He acknowledged that his office had a margarita machine at the fair. In fact, he said, they won first prize for best margarita. But he insisted they came by it fair and square. In any case, he pointed out, the county’s drug fund was at his discretion. Under Texas forfeiture law, counties can keep most of the money and property they rustle up.
As the drug war continues, the practice of asset forfeiture has come under question. Last year, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, $12 billion was smuggled from the United States to Mexico. Federal officials seized about $1.6 billion of that. State and local agencies got many millions more. The idea is to discourage drug smugglers by taking away their profits.
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This was meant to help out and encourage local law enforcement by giving officers some discretionary income. In most cases it does. But Mr McDougal’s margarita machine was not an isolated abuse. A district attorney in west Texas took his whole staff to Hawaii for a training seminar. Another spent thousands of dollars on commercials for his re-election campaign. John Whitmire, a Democratic state senator, wants to prosecute such abuses and held a hearing last month to examine the issue. He found an immediate obstacle to punishing the profligate district attorneys. “I ain’t figured out what the hell law they violate,” he said.
I’ll tell you which law was violated: The 4th amendment.
AF laws are a slap in the face to the framers of the Constitution.
The only reason these laws have stood is because those who _should_ be striking them down stand to lose too much money.
>>“I ain’t figured out what the hell law
>>they violate,” he said.
Hey! I didn’t know they spoke Ebonics in Tejas! Those folks value diversity! What’s next, a rainbow on the state flag?
I say let them keep spending it as they like…those cops deserve it.
…says the man who sits at a computer in a comfy office all day.
Better spent this way, than profiting drug dealers. Margaritas make everyone happy.
The applicable law says the seized $$$ must be used “for law-enforcement purposes”.
a margarita machine at a county fair does not sound like one of those …
Civil forfeiture laws need to be overturned. It is unconstitutional to seize someone’s assets without the government having to prove they are illegal. I wish those Second Amendment nuts would actually use their guns to defend their rights like they say they will.
Mister Mustard said,
>>“I ain’t figured out what the hell law
>>they violate,” he said.
Hey! I didn’t know they spoke Ebonics in Tejas! Those folks value diversity! What’s next, a rainbow on the state flag?
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Naw, Mr. Mustard. Were he a real Texan, it would have read,
“I ain’t figgered out what the hell law they done gone and violated.”
It’s people like this that give Texans a bad rep. 🙂
I wonder if those officers had Unicards for those margaritas they were selling!
It’s some lame BS that we have to do in dry counties here in the mighty land of Texas. They say that Texas is like its own country. Well East Texas is even further in a class of its own!
Bunch of good ol’ boys.