How does it currently stand? The proceeds of crime are forfeit? Sounds OK.
And Manc, it gets even better!
Qualified immunity in layman's terms: unless a person with an IQ of 1 would understand that a specific action was described in detail and said to be completely wrong in a controlling decision, a cop cannot be sued for what they did.
Cop Who Allegedly Kneed a Subdued Suspect in the Eye ’20 to 30 Times’ Gets Qualified Immunity – Reason.com
(Kneeing a suspect in the eye 20-30 times; but there wasn't a case in the relevant jurisdiction saying that you can't knee someone in the eye 20-30 times. Sure, there was a case saying you cannot do a "knee drop" that fractures their face. (Gill v. Maciejewski). Sure, there was a decision saying you can't "hip toss" someone, then have two other cops beat them to death as they lay on the ground. (Krout v. Goemmer).
But there wasn't saying a decision saying you can't knee someone in the eye 20-30 times. So the cop cannot be sued. Unreasonable to expect him to know his behavior was unconstitutional.
All this stuff that sounds good on paper so that people will approve without even looking into it. It's a bad guy so who cares, next.
Oh yes, and using the dogs of people the police say are criminals for target practice:
Detroit Police Department Settles Another Dog Shooting Lawsuit After Video Contradicts Cop’s Account – Reason.com
Police conduct drug raid, blow away two dogs, lie about it. Only because it happened on camera could anything happen about it. Otherwise the cops would be protected by their lies (specifically, that the dogs attacked them).
In the video linked in the article. You can see one dog standing at the end of a hallway. Another comes out, looking like it wants to say hello. The cop blows it away. The cop wrote in his report that "he 'observed a black pit bull and a tan pit bull showing his teeth, charging, and attempting to bite crew.'"
Later, he wrote "a large black pitfall came charging at me down the hallway from the northwest bedroom. I fired two shots…neutralizing the threat. While still in the hallway, a second brown pit bull came charging down the hallway towards me."
These days I don't think Americans deserve their freedoms anymore, especially not the ones they
think they have. I can excuse you for maybe not knowing a lot about civil forfeiture given that you live in England. But I'm telling you: there is such a massive web of laws and judicial precedents that protects police that they can get away with almost anything.
Our rights are a joke. Our laws are a disgrace. We've got some really scummy cops, and so many more that lie to cover-up for the really scummy ones.
Gotta kill someone by kneeling on their neck for a full three minutes after they fall unconscious
on camera to get charged . . .
