New Front in Civil Forfeiture: Seize Funds on Prepaid Cards
Jun 13, 2016 4:30:05 GMT -5
Post by avordvet on Jun 13, 2016 4:30:05 GMT -5
New frontiers in asset forfeiture
By Radley Balko, June 8 2016
While much of the progress on criminal justice reform has stalled in recent months, there has been quite a bit of progress on civil asset forfeiture. Several states have continued to put curbs on abuses. New Mexico, Montana and New Hampshire recently passed laws requiring a conviction before property can be forfeited. (Although at least in New Mexico, police agencies appear to be straight-up ignoring the law.)
But law enforcement agencies aren’t giving up the lucrative (for them) practice without a fight. The most common form of property seized is cash. In fact, carrying large amounts of cash is now in and of itself viewed as suspicion of criminal activity. People who still do carry a lot of cash today have as much to fear from law enforcement as they do from criminals, particularly if they’re planning to fly or drive on a highway that passes through a “forfeiture corridor.”
www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2016/06/08/new-frontiers-in-asset-forfeiture/
By Radley Balko, June 8 2016
While much of the progress on criminal justice reform has stalled in recent months, there has been quite a bit of progress on civil asset forfeiture. Several states have continued to put curbs on abuses. New Mexico, Montana and New Hampshire recently passed laws requiring a conviction before property can be forfeited. (Although at least in New Mexico, police agencies appear to be straight-up ignoring the law.)
But law enforcement agencies aren’t giving up the lucrative (for them) practice without a fight. The most common form of property seized is cash. In fact, carrying large amounts of cash is now in and of itself viewed as suspicion of criminal activity. People who still do carry a lot of cash today have as much to fear from law enforcement as they do from criminals, particularly if they’re planning to fly or drive on a highway that passes through a “forfeiture corridor.”
www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2016/06/08/new-frontiers-in-asset-forfeiture/
New Front in Civil Forfeiture: Authorities Get Devices to Seize Funds Loaded to Prepaid Cards
June 7, 2016, By Clifton Adcock
Update: June 10: A state legislator has requested that an interim study and hearing be conducted on the use of card-reader devices by law enforcement and other aspects of civil asset forfeiture. "News of ERAD usage has prompted renewed calls in my district to examine the civil asset forfeiture process, with due process and safeguards against unreasonable searches and seizures as the main concern," Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, said in his written request. "The idea here is to get both sides in the room." A decision on interim studies will be made during the summer and hearings will be held later in the year.
The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has purchased several devices capable of seizing funds loaded on to prepaid debit cards to aid troopers in roadside seizures of suspected drug-trafficking proceeds.
The portable card scanners are designed to be carried in law enforcement vehicles, allow troopers to freeze and seize money loaded onto a prepaid debit card, and to return money to an account whose funds were seized or frozen.
The vehicle-mounted scanners are also capable of retrieving and storing limited account information from other cards as well, such as banking debit cards, credit cards and “payment account information from virtually any magnetic stripe card,” according to the website and patent documents of the device manufacturer, Texas-based ERAD Group Inc. ERAD stands for Electronic Recovery and Access to Data.
oklahomawatch.org/2016/06/07/new-front-in-civil-forfeiture-okla-authorities-get-devices-to-seize-funds-loaded-onto-prepaid-cards/
June 7, 2016, By Clifton Adcock
Update: June 10: A state legislator has requested that an interim study and hearing be conducted on the use of card-reader devices by law enforcement and other aspects of civil asset forfeiture. "News of ERAD usage has prompted renewed calls in my district to examine the civil asset forfeiture process, with due process and safeguards against unreasonable searches and seizures as the main concern," Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, said in his written request. "The idea here is to get both sides in the room." A decision on interim studies will be made during the summer and hearings will be held later in the year.
The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has purchased several devices capable of seizing funds loaded on to prepaid debit cards to aid troopers in roadside seizures of suspected drug-trafficking proceeds.
The portable card scanners are designed to be carried in law enforcement vehicles, allow troopers to freeze and seize money loaded onto a prepaid debit card, and to return money to an account whose funds were seized or frozen.
The vehicle-mounted scanners are also capable of retrieving and storing limited account information from other cards as well, such as banking debit cards, credit cards and “payment account information from virtually any magnetic stripe card,” according to the website and patent documents of the device manufacturer, Texas-based ERAD Group Inc. ERAD stands for Electronic Recovery and Access to Data.
oklahomawatch.org/2016/06/07/new-front-in-civil-forfeiture-okla-authorities-get-devices-to-seize-funds-loaded-onto-prepaid-cards/