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posted by martyb on Friday December 11 2015, @12:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-above-the-law dept.

Earlier this year, the state of New Mexico passed one of the most solid pieces of asset forfeiture reform legislation in the country. All it asked for was what most people would consider to be common sense: if the government is going to seize assets, the least it could do in return is tie the seizure to a conviction.

Now, the state is finding out that bad habits are hard to break. CJ Ciaramella reports that the government is going after another part of the government for its refusal to stop taking stuff without securing a conviction.

Two New Mexico state senators are suing Albuquerque after the city has refused to stop seizing residents' cars, despite a law passed earlier this year ending the practice of civil asset forfeiture.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, New Mexico state senators Lisa Torraco and Daniel Ivey-Soto said Albuquerque is defying the new law and "has continued to take property using civil forfeiture without requiring that anyone--much less the property owner--be convicted of a crime."

These would be the two senators who pushed for the much-needed reform. They managed to get the law passed, but Albuquerque (along with other cities in the state) haven't shown much interest in altering their tactics. The only incentive the new law has on its side is the threat of legal action or legislative pressure. The old incentives--hundreds of thousands of dollars--are still motivating local law enforcement.

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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 11 2015, @02:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 11 2015, @02:53AM (#274780)

    That made me smile for a moment.
    After I thought about it for another moment, I realized that all the bigwigs probably drive gov't-provided cars.
    (Ever see Sheriff Joe Arpaio's tricked-out patrol car?)

    To raid their homes, you'd need a judge to sign off on that.
    It might take a while to find a judge with a grudge--or a great deal of courage.

    There was a prosecutor there who filed murder charges against 2 cops and the whole cop squad went after her hammer and tongs, trying to get trumped-up stuff to stick.
    They harassed her and her kin with bogus arrests. [google.com]

    Albuquerque is not a place for the weak of spirit.

    -- gewg_

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