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ALERT!
Confiscation Bill Imminent!
(Alert 2/6/04)
This alert provided by Arnold
Gaunt. To receive forfeiture alerts directly from Mr.
Gaunt, e-mail
ajgaunt@xmission.com
Topics:
1.
Introduction
2.
Equitable Sharing
3. How Initiative B Restricts
Equitable Sharing
4.
Most Critical Aspect of Sen. Buttars' Bill
5. What
You Must Do
Additional Action Item from Accountability Utah:
1. Introduction
As noted in my previous alert
this week, Senator D. Chris Buttars (Salt Lake) intends to
advance legislation to destroy Initiative B (SB 175). This
initiative, passed by 69% of the vote in November 2000,
instituted a broad range of protections for innocent property
owners in Utah. Prior to Initiative B, the police had
virtually unlimited power to confiscate property from innocent
people and ruin their lives.
Perhaps the most fundamental
change brought by the initiative was ending "policing for
profit". Under this perversion, the police, prosecutors, and
"confidential informants" could fund themselves from proceeds
obtained from your confiscated property.
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2. Equitable Sharing
With a profit motive involved,
the blindfold was removed from lady justice, and the rights of
the innocent were sacrificed. There were two ways that the
lust for cash from innocent persons could be satisfied:
through operation of state courts, and through "equitable
sharing" with the federal government.
It is the latter of the two
mechanisms that is the most insidious and destructive to the
rule of law. The operation of equitable sharing begins with
an officer of the state seizing property. Once seized, the
property is transferred to the federal government, where where
tyrannical laws apply. Under the tyranny of federal
forfeiture, an owner must prove his innocence to have his
property returned. But this can only occur if the forfeiture
occurs in a courtroom, because the law authorizes forfeiture
to be performed by a bureaucrat.
Because the right to own
property is raped by federal power, it is an "efficient"
mechanism to accomplish the confiscation. Once confiscation
has occurred, the agency that "cooperated" with the federal
police in transferring the seized property can acquire up to
80% of the proceeds from it. These forfeiture proceeds can
then be used and leveraged to obtain federal grants.
In summary, equitable sharing
with the federal government offers state, county, and local
police the following seduction: 1) An easy means to obtain
money that can be used to purchase such items as "training",
"equipment", overtime pay, and testimony from confidential
informants, 2) independence from local authority, taxpayers,
and voters that would otherwise be involved in funding the
police and holding them accountable, and 3) the means to
obtain federal grants that require matching funds from the
police.
[Additional: See a
previous chart created by Mr. Gaunt on
equitable sharing.]
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3. How Initiative B Restricts
Equitable Sharing
Because of the obvious danger
posed by equitable sharing, Initiative B was written
deliberately to end police financial incentives to participate
in it. The law enacted by the initiative makes it is illegal
for property to be transferred to the federal government,
unless a state court determines that the property owner's
rights would not be violated by doing so. For any property
that is transferred, the police are prohibited from using any
proceeds from it. They are required to transfer them to the
State Treasurer.
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4. Most Critical Aspect of Sen.
Buttars' Bill
The draft bill being sponsored
by Sen. Buttars eliminates the restrictions on the transfer of
property of innocent persons to the federal government, and
allows the police to fully profit from any proceeds that may
result. It is on this basis that I claim the bill effectively
repeals the initiative.
Of course, the confiscators are
not promoting their bill as a repeal of the initiative.
Instead, they have concocted a deceptive title for it (Protection
of Private Lawfully Obtained Property ), are falsely
claiming that opponents are supporting it, are stating that it
is only a means for Utah to get federal money to which it is
entititled, and focus on minor technical corrections to state
forfeiture procedure which are superfluous to the repeal
effected by the reauthorization of equitable sharing with the
federal government.
Though your legislator may be
fooled by the propaganda of the confiscation lobby, you don't
have to. I encourage you to
read the draft copy of the bill. It shows Sen. Lyle
Hillyard as the sponsor, though he has passed it along to Sen.
Buttars while he apparently continues to work the details
behind the scenes. The most critical portion is 24-1-15 (file
page 14, bill page 16), Transfer and Sharing Procedures. The
addition of 2(d) and the revision of 3(a) in this section
render the remainder of the initiative essentially worthless.
The official copy of the bill is
not available, as the confiscators want to minimize your
opportunity to effectively respond to their cruel and ruthless
attack. To the best of my current knowledge and
understanding, it will be released as
SB 175, available at that link.
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5. What You Must Do
To stop the horror of SB 175 (or
whatever other form it may take), you must contact your State
Senator now! Tell your Senator the following:
1. The bill is illegitimate
as evidenced by its concealment from the public. The
initiative received full public disclosure and debate for
months prior to its enactment, and any revision of it, to be
legitimate, must undergo a similar process.
2. The rights of Utah's
property owners must not be traded away to satisfy the
confiscation lobby's lust for money obtained through the
injustice of federal statutes.
3. Your Senator's vote will be
a deciding factor in your vote this year and in the future.
4. Forfeiture (with due
process) is permitted by the initiative through state law.
Since the confiscation lobby claims they are very respectful
of the rights of innocent people, there is no need to provide
a mechanism for property to be transferred to the federal
government. If the confiscators have evidence to the
appropriate standard, they can forfeit property without any
changes to the law.
5. You are angry that
they have failed to inform and involve you (if so) to stop the
wickedness of Sen. Hillyard, Sen. Buttars, Sen. Mansell, and
any other Senators that are attempting to secretly collaborate
with the confiscators to subvert or eliminate due process of
law for property owners.
6. If they are not aware of the
effort to repeal Initiative B, why are they failing to
represent you and be involved to protect your rights.
You may contact your Senator at
801-538-1035, or fax at 801-538-1878. For Democratic
Senators, 801-538-1406, and fax 801-538-1449.
See further contact information.
[Note from
Accountability Utah: You may also visit our
Elected
Official Contact Information page.]
If you make contact with a
Senator, I'm interested in the response that you receive.
Please e-mail me at
ajgaunt@xmission.com. Thank you.
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Additional Action Item from
Accountability Utah
Last year, over 100 citizens met
in Senate Majority Whip John Valentine's district to demand
that he withdraw a similar forfeiture bill (SB
31) — also drafted in secret by General Shurtleff and the
confiscation lobby.
Sen. Valentine
surrendered, promised to drop his bill, and also promised
to make sure the citizenry were involved in drafting any
future amendments to Initiative B.
We recommend that you also
contact Sen. Valentine and demand that he make good on his
promises:
Sen. John Valentine
(Republican)
Home: 801-224-1693
Work: 801-373-6345
Capitol: 801-538-1035, or fax at 801-538-1878
E-mail:
jvalentine@utahsenate.org
YOU DON'T BREAK PROMISES
TO YOUR CONSTITUENTS.
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If you have comments or suggestions, please
email us at info@accountabilityutah.org.
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