A Car “Smelled Like Marijuana.” So, the Police Department Confiscated the Car.
The aroma of marijuana is the aroma of money for police departments. The cops can smell it everywhere.
A Virginia man made a wrong turn in Washington, D.C. A cop stopped him. Then the cop smelled marijuana. Anyway, that’s what he told his superiors.
He made a search. He found a gun.
So, he confiscated the car.
He did not find any marijuana.
The man who made the wrong turn wants his car back. Sorry, no can do. That will take a $1,200 payment to the government. Please do not think of this as a bribe. Do not think of this as ransom. Think of it as the criminal justice system. When you think “justice system” think “criminal.”
It’s all legal. It is called civil asset forfeiture. Police departments use it as a way to generate income. The words “aroma of marijuana” mean “aroma of police department income.”
The young man was acquitted. He broke no laws. But the government will not return his 2007 car. It has been a year.
He was told that he had to pay $1,200 to file a lawsuit to get back his car.
He was not told that he could post a $1,000 bond.
After learning that this was possible, Simms attempted to apply for a waiver, and was told that he would have to get the application notarized and provide three years of tax returns. After doing so, Simms was informed that his waiver was denied, and the bond – essentially, a ransom demand for an amount he would lose if the thieves ratified their theft of his car – would be reduced to $800.
He filed a lawsuit. He was told that this could take a year.
A federal judge ruled that he had been caused irreparable harm. But the man still owes the District a $1000 forfeiture bond until the local judge rules.
This is justice in America.
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Published on July 16, 2012. The original is here.