Bipartisan House lawmakers thumb noses at Sessions commitment to helping cops thieve

[riversedge]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by muriel_volestrangler (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: thinkprogress





Formal restrictions on federal asset forfeiture would bring us closer to actually following the Constitution.

Alan Pyke
Sep 13, 2017, 12:45 pm

Attorney General Jeff Sessions. CREDIT: AP Photo/Susan Walsh

When justifying various elements of his new war on crime, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sometimes invokes the notion that Department of Justice (DOJ) employees must use all legal tools Congress has given them — even the ones now on the wrong side of a political consensus that views the justice system as fruitlessly punitive.

The argument tacitly invites elected officials to act out against the attorney general’s campaign. On Tuesday, an ideologically diverse cluster of lawmakers answered the bell by adding language to a crucial spending bill that would curtail one of the most dubious powers Sessions means to wield.

The amendment would effectively restore restrictions on federal asset forfeiture programs — the systems by which state and local law enforcement are allowed and encouraged to confiscate personal property on the mere suspicion that it was gleaned through crime, without ever proving their case in court — that Sessions is eliminating. The language prohibits the DOJ from using any of the funds appropriated in the bill on Sessions’ scheme...................................................




.......................But the transpartisan nature of the idea embedded in the amendment makes such maneuvering difficult for Sessions’ allies. The changes to forfeiture policy Sessions wants to reverse were heralded as progress by liberals and conservatives alike when former Attorney General Eric Holder initiated them in 2015. The broader notion that American criminal justice policy needs serious overhaul continues to enjoy the support of a broad coalition of influential donors that includes the hyperconservative Koch brothers. While the specifics of how that overhaul should look are sometimes disputed inside the reform coalition, opposition to asset forfeiture stands out as a primary point of cohesion for the wave Sessions is trying to halt....................................

Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/sessions-police-and-thieves-9beb005e363a/

[BigmanPigman]

1. This is important since if 45 and rich pals are found guilty they lose their assets.

I want them to pay (especially literally) and suffer for their crimes. Possibly serving jail time but especially seizing their personal assets. They sold our country to Russia for money, they live for money, they are traitors for money. Just like with Bernie Madoff they need both jail and being broke as punishment for collusion, obstruction, and stealing the election from the Dems.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Locking, since you have posted a new thread on the same topic

which is getting more replies: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141865633

There was some discussion whether this article was too close to opinion, but your use of the other one seems to show you had doubts too.

Please continue discussion there. Thanks.