Forbes : Philadelphia Earns Millions By Seizing Cash And Homes From People Never Char

[clodzilla]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/institut...ction-lawsuit/

Chris Sourovelis has never had any trouble with the law or been accused of any crime. But that hasn’t stopped the City of Philadelphia from trying to take his home.

The Sourouvelis family, along with thousands of others in Philadelphia, is living a Kafkaesque nightmare: Their property is considered guilty; they must prove their innocence and the very prosecutors they’re fighting can profit from their misery. Now the Institute for Justice has filed a major class-action lawsuit to end these abuses of power.

Back in March, Chris’s son was caught selling $40 worth of drugs outside of the home. With no previous arrests or a prior record, a court ordered him to attend rehab. But the very day Sourovelis was driving his son to begin treatment, he got a frantic call from his wife. Without any prior notice, police evicted the Sourovelises and seized the house, using a little-known law known as “civil forfeiture.”

Law enforcement barred the family from living in their own home for over a week. The family could only return home if they banned their son from visiting and relinquished some of their constitutional rights. Adding to the cruel irony, their son has already completed rehab, ending his punishment by the city. “If this can happen to me and my family, it can happen to anybody,” Sourovelis said.

Under civil forfeiture, property owners do not have to be convicted of a crime, or even charged with one, to permanently lose their property. Instead, the government can forfeit a property if it’s found to “facilitate” a crime, no matter how tenuous the connection. So rather than sue the owner, in civil forfeiture proceedings, the government sues the property itself, leading to surreal case names like Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. The Real Property and Improvements Known as 2544 N. Colorado St.

In other words, thanks to civil forfeiture, the government punishes innocent people for the crimes other people might have committed. Sadly, the Sourovelis family is not alone. Doila Welch faces civil forfeiture of her home, which has been in her family for 17 years, because her estranged husband, unbeknownst to her, was dealing small amounts of marijuana. Norys Hernandez and her sister co-own a rowhouse, but her sister is still barred from living there because Hernandez’s nephew was arrested for selling drugs outside her rowhouse. Welch and Hernandez have not been charged with any crime and both have joined Sourovelis as named plaintiffs in IJ’s class action against the Philadelphia forfeiture machine.

Philadelphia law enforcement has transformed a once obscure legal process into a racket that treats Americans as little more than ATMs. Every year, the city collects almost $6 million in revenue from forfeiture. According to data collected by the Institute for Justice, between 2002 and 2012, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office seized and forfeited over 3,000 vehicles, nearly 1,200 homes and other real estate properties and $44 million in cash. Altogether, Philadelphia has generated a staggering $64 million in forfeiture proceeds, which equals one-fifth of the DA Office’s entire budget. Forty percent of those funds—$25 million—pay law enforcement salaries, including the salaries for the prosecutors who have used civil forfeiture against families like the Sourovelises.

Civil forfeiture is a nationwide problem. But the scale and scope of Philadelphia’s forfeiture machine is practically unrivaled on the municipal level. Kings County, New York, which includes Brooklyn, generated $1.2 million from forfeiture in 2010, even though its population is 1.5 times larger. Los Angeles County also kept $1.2 million in seized assets that same year, despite having more than six times as many people as Philadelphia.

In a statement responding to IJ’s lawsuit, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office claimed it pursues civil forfeiture cases “judiciously.” Yet Philadelphia has filed more forfeiture cases than any other jurisdiction in Pennsylvania, even though they all operate under the same state law. In 2011 alone, the Philadelphia DA filed over 6,500 civil forfeiture cases. Compare that to the second-largest county in the state, Allegheny County (which includes Pittsburgh), filed a mere 200 from 2008 to 2011.

The City of Brotherly Love is particularly aggressive in pursuing homes and other real estate. Between 2009 and 2010, Philadelphia forfeited 90 real estate properties. That same year, Allegheny County did not forfeit a single home or piece of real estate. Nor is that year an outlier. Between 2002 and 2012, Philadelphia forfeited 1,172 real estate properties, while the 66 other counties in Pennsylvania forfeited 56 real properties—combined.

Meanwhile, the owners who want to defend themselves and retrieve their seized property must venture to the Orwellian-sounding Courtroom 478. Despite its name, there are neither judges nor juries in Courtroom 478. Instead, there are only assistant district attorneys and a scheduler, who deal with up to 80 forfeiture cases in a single day.

With the prosecutors running this kangaroo court, the DA’s Office clearly wields enormous power. Poring over 8,000 asset forfeiture cases filed against cash in 2010, the Philadelphia City Paper found that 83 percent were decided on the very first court listing. Of those, a staggering 96 percent of the decisions favored the DA.

Incredibly, property owners battling civil forfeiture have fewer rights than those actually accused of committing a crime. Unlike in criminal cases, the government does not need to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” to prevail. Instead, once prosecutors show merely that there was a link between a property and some alleged criminal activity owners must prove their innocence. Moreover, since these cases are in civil court, owners facing forfeiture do not have a right to an attorney.

Prosecutors further tilt the odds by “relisting” civil-forfeiture cases, forcing owners to trek back to Courtroom 478 again and again and again. If an owner misses just one hearing, the government can immediately forfeit the property. The Sourouvelis family already has been to Courtroom 478 four times, with no end in sight. They still have not seen a judge.

Rochelle Bing, another innocent homeowner, was stuck in legal limbo for more than two years before the DA settled her case. Like Sourovelis, Bing was never charged with a crime or accused of any wrongdoing. Yet Bing or her attorney had to appear at Courtroom 478 at least 23 times before the city allowed her to keep her home.

By filing a class-action lawsuit in federal court, the Institute for Justice is seeking to end the city’s unconstitutional civil forfeiture practices and to force the city to return wrongfully seized property. Philadelphia should not profit from denying due process to thousands of people.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of civil forfeiture, please contact the Institute for Justice. For more information on civil forfeiture, visit endforfeiture.com.

[jerkin]

Forfeiture laws need to be completely eliminated in this Country. I can see the point when they are used properly against major drug dealers that have made millions of dollars dealing drugs and own mansions, boats, planes, etc. but they have taken things entirely too far just as a government drunk on power always does. Several recent events come to mind like a few years ago when the ATF handed out leatherman's to their agents that were engraved with "Always Think Forfeiture". Then there was that case in Tennessee I believe it was where they took that families motel claiming that guests have used rooms to deal drugs and use prostitutes. I never did hear what happened there. It's bullshit and it needs to stop.

[elweasel]

This exact same shit happened to me because one of my tenants was the middle man supplying the corner dealers. So one night a squad of 15 narc cops broke down the door (even though they had the key according to the police report, they lied all over the report.) Then 3 days later they fucking glue a big orange sticker on the door. The Philly DA was attempting to seize the building. After spending some $10,000 to hire a lawyer and other expenses, we were able to prove the innocents of our building. The forfeiture laws suck. I have said it before. They started as medieval law. A cart full of wine sits on top a hill and then rolls down and kills a boy. The King would take possession of the evil cart (it had to be evil because it kill a boy) and then cleanse the cart of evil by selling the wine and keeping the money. You can be sure that I will be contacting the institute and seeing what their class action suit is all about. When I am able I will post the results. My biggest concern is normally on class action suits the only winners are the lawyers.

[JenniferG]

I read about this last week and it has been my belief since it's inception that Civil Forfeiture Laws are unconstitutional. How can the government seize anything without due process? If they want to arrest someone and take them to court and win a case that convicts them of a crime and the property is part of the proceeds of the criminal activity then fine that's due process.

To be able to do what the Philadelphia DA is doing someone like your son possessed or sold drugs from your house without your knowledge or permission that the house is now forfeit to the corrupt government? That is beyond the pale to me and smacks of governmental abuse of power and authority and borders on tyranny. Apparently the DA's office has a team of very aggressive ADA's that target those that don't have the wherewithal to defend against this abuse of power.

[bigandy1966]

I believe its stems from Reagan years and the zero tolerance for drugs that was part of the war on drugs. The government seized cars, boats, and property from citizens if they found a pot seed. There was a captain/ owner of a fishing trawler in Alaska that had his life and livelihood stolen by the government because his nephew had a joint un beknown to the captain, they were boarded by coastgaurd fisheries inspection and the nephew freaked out and confessed to having the pot. .gov seized the entire vessel

This and eminent domain are the biggest transgressions of government power and over reach.

[LisaA]

If only the city would go after the tax deadbeats in a similar manner...

[ungawa]

I believe its stems from Reagan years and the zero tolerance for drugs that was part of the war on drugs. The government seized cars, boats, and property from citizens if they found a pot seed. There was a captain/ owner of a fishing trawler in Alaska that had his life and livelihood stolen by the government because his nephew had a joint un beknown to the captain, they were boarded by coastgaurd fisheries inspection and the nephew freaked out and confessed to having the pot. .gov seized the entire vessel

This and eminent domain are the biggest transgressions of government power and over reach.

They don't need a pot seed. They don't need evidence. Simply suspicion.

There was an episode of 60 Minutes (I think?) during the 80s that brought this to light. PD was paying airline tellers to call the cops if they saw anybody paying with cash that had a lot of cash in their wallet. They ran tests and the cops responded, confiscated the cash, no arrests.

Most of the stories that have made the news over the last 30 years have not been about property forfeited after a minor drug offense was established. Cops simply see you have money, ask you to explain it, if they don't like your answer they take it. Cops see you driving a nice car, ask how a garbage man can afford it, don't like your answers, they take it.

I don't know what the SOTA of the practice is but there have been thousands of news stories just like that over the years.

[elweasel]

I read about this last week and it has been my belief since it's inception that Civil Forfeiture Laws are unconstitutional. How can the government seize anything without due process? If they want to arrest someone and take them to court and win a case that convicts them of a crime and the property is part of the proceeds of the criminal activity then fine that's due process.

To be able to do what the Philadelphia DA is doing someone like your son possessed or sold drugs from your house without your knowledge or permission that the house is now forfeit to the corrupt government? That is beyond the pale to me and smacks of governmental abuse of power and authority and borders on tyranny. Apparently the DA's office has a team of very aggressive ADA's that target those that don't have the wherewithal to defend against this abuse of power.

That is exactly what it is, unless you are able and willing to spend thousands of dollars to defend your property you lose. And the idea goes back hundreds of years.

[streaker69]

They don't need a pot seed. They don't need evidence. Simply suspicion.

There was an episode of 60 Minutes (I think?) during the 80s that brought this to light. PD was paying airline tellers to call the cops if they saw anybody paying with cash that had a lot of cash in their wallet. They ran tests and the cops responded, confiscated the cash, no arrests.

Most of the stories that have made the news over the last 30 years have not been about property forfeited after a minor drug offense was established. Cops simply see you have money, ask you to explain it, if they don't like your answer they take it. Cops see you driving a nice car, ask how a garbage man can afford it, don't like your answers, they take it.

I don't know what the SOTA of the practice is but there have been thousands of news stories just like that over the years.

In some cases where you have a valid reason for having a large amount of cash they stills seize it. There was a case a few years ago where a used car dealer crossed several state lines to buy a car from a private person. He had $22K+ on him when he was stopped for a traffic violation. They seized his cash even though he explained exactly what he was doing. But he wast traveling in a known drug corridor, therefore his rights were suspended.

I believe he sued and eventually got his cash back, but I think it took almost a year.

Civil forfeiture should have never been passed, and it needs to be challenged and struck down.

[God's Country]

I knew an older couple that had a camp in NYS that found pot growing on their land. They didn't want a confrontation with the locals, so they ignored it.
I told them if they were discovered they would lose their land even they never got charged with anything. They didn't believe me.

Drug forfeiture laws are insane, criminal, an further proof of the police state.