Good career move for whoever halted this unethical practice and procedure. Thanks to Scripps Tampa and the Institute for Justice. From Scripps Tampa:
Justice Department suspends DEA's controversial asset-forfeiture program targeting airline travelers
The Department of Justice is cracking down on the Drug Enforcement Administration's controversial practice of "consensual encounters" at airports after multiple complaints.
The practice includes DEA special agents or task force officers approaching individuals at airports and then asking for consent to search the individual’s belongings.
The DOJ's move comes four years after Scripps News Tampa Investigative Reporter Kylie McGivern highlighted the practice of civil asset forfeiture at airports by the DEA.
Civil asset forfeiture allows federal agencies to seize cash and other property suspected of being involved in a crime, even if charges are never filed against the owner.
The Institute for Justice called the move a "pretty significant change."
"It means that air travelers across the United States, at all domestic airports, will not be subjected to these 'consensual encounter' interrogations by DEA," said Dan Alban, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice.
"It's a predatory practice by DEA, and the reason DEA engages in this airport interdiction behavior is because the proceeds from everything they seize go into the DOJ asset forfeiture fund," Alban said. "A fund that can only be spent on federal law enforcement like DEA."
Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the government over civil asset forfeiture and the taking of large amounts of cash from people who were not committing a crime.
One of those lawsuits was filed by Stacy Jones of Tampa. Jones told her story in 2020 of having $40,000+ in cash seized by federal agents. Jones and her husband were questioned, their money seized and then released to fly home without it.
“No charges, no evidence, no nothing. It was just seized," Jones said. “I knew that I hadn’t done anything, but it was like — guilty until proven innocent.”
There is no limit to the amount of cash a passenger can carry on a flight within the U.S.
2 comments:
The DOJ likes to step in late... AFTER people's rights have been violated. And no remedy for the victims. They should do more stepping in BEFORE people's rights are violated... but they like to think of government as something that needs to be protected more than the people apparently.
Veterans Healthcare Administration paycheck is called "shut up for a buck." We want justice for the civil and human rights violations.. and constitutional rights violations.
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