This is a follow up to a long drawn out case. A few years ago the FBI raided a private safe deposit box location. Instead of following the court order to only open specific boxes, they took everything, even things from people who were not suspected of committing a crime. Then they decided to call it civil asset forfeiture and try to keep everything despite not charging anyone with a crime.

As it turns out, this was their plan all along. They knowingly lied on the search warrant application. The Institute for Justice is going after them hard for this.

For those of us who'd rather read that watch video - the IJ press release:

Lawsuit Uncovers the Inside Story of the FBI's Plans to Take Security Deposit Boxes without Charging Owners with Crimes - Institute for Justice (ij.org)

So they just robbed them? Those guys really need to be reeled in.

Organized Crime's been replaced by Organized Law.

It has been stated by many and I will do it again. The FBI is not to be trusted. Drugs flowing across the border plus terrorist, Hunter Biden et al, Clinton et al, No, they are not to be trusted with the dog pound.

Jury nullify ALL FBI cases.

AgNav93 said:

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So they just robbed them? Those guys really need to be reeled in.

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Theft, but yes. That's all civil asset forfeiture is. Legalized theft. All these very trustworthy people have to do is claim they think your stuff was involved in a crime and they get to take it from you. You have to sue to get it back at your expense.

Depending on the jurisdiction the state/local police get to keep a huge chunk of whatever they seize so there's a huge carrot to seize as much as possible. One of the many reasons why you should never voluntarily submit to a search of your car at roadside.

There's no law against traveling with large amounts of cash on domestic flights, but the TSA will often give courtesy calls to law-enforcement when they see somebody carrying bundles of cash through security. Almost always gets seized, even though it isn't illegal.

Simple Jack said:

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Jury nullify ALL FBI cases.

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I'm at this point. Don't call me for any Federal cases. I'm straight up on the nullification track.

Civil asset forfeiture should be illegal. I would love to get a good case in front of this SCOTUS.

What I don't get is why the magistrate approved the warrant? Why should anybody be allowed to "inventory" my personal belongings unless there was evidence of a crime? Why do we pretend to have a balance of powers when the judges are often in bed with law enforcement?

Private PoopyPants said:

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AgNav93 said:

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So they just robbed them? Those guys really need to be reeled in.

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Theft, but yes. That's all civil asset forfeiture is. Legalized theft. All these very trustworthy people have to do is claim they think your stuff was involved in a crime and they get to take it from you. You have to sue to get it back at your expense.

Depending on the jurisdiction the state/local police get to keep a huge chunk of whatever they seize so there's a huge carrot to seize as much as possible. One of the many reasons why you should never voluntarily submit to a search of your car at roadside.

There's no law against traveling with large amounts of cash on domestic flights, but the TSA will often give courtesy calls to law-enforcement when they see somebody carrying bundles of cash through security. Almost always gets seized, even though it isn't illegal.

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That's ****ing bull***** I did not know they could just seize cash from you at the airport. What. The. ****.

AgNav93 said:

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So they just robbed them? Those guys really need to be reeled in.

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"Reeled in"? That's it? You are too kind.

Time to take a hard look at banning the FBI, and CIA while we are at it.

I'd be perfectly happy to move our nation's capital to the heartland somewhere - DFW, Omaha, Ok City

The FBI/DOJ are the enemy of the people and should be treated as such.

AgNav93 said:

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So they just robbed them? Those guys really need to be reeled in.

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Basically, but it goes beyond that. They lied to the court to get a warrant. They explicitly and intentionally misstated their intentions and went well beyond what three warrant they requested authorized.

I would think any case that comes out of this will inevitably be thrown or because of the misconduct and the fact that any evidence gathered from this would be considered fruit of the poisoned tree.

AgNav93 said:

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So they just robbed them? Those guys really need to be reeled in.

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Good luck with that.

Want to know how the FBI found out who killed these people in MS?

Mob style beating.

OKC Bombing had some strange info, Google Kenneth Trentadue

Leftists: "Sounds fine to me! Let's continue trusting these people without question!"

Shagga said:

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What I don't get is why the magistrate approved the warrant? Why should anybody be allowed to "inventory" my personal belongings unless there was evidence of a crime? Why do we pretend to have a balance of powers when the judges are often in bed with law enforcement?

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Because they said they were seizing/investigating the business, which means taking the safe deposit boxes themselves. If they seize the building and the safe deposit boxes but not the contents, they need to be able to contact the owners to come get their stuff and have a list of what was in their box to make sure it is complete when they do. They were only authorized to determine who the contents belonged to, not continue any kind of criminal investigation based on what they found and certainly not to seize any contents.

Instead of doing what they told the magistrate.They were going to do though, they did what they planned all along and seized the boxes and their contents.

They need to end the identity benefiting from their own seizures. It along creates these issues.

AgNav93 said:

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So they just robbed them? Those guys really need to be reeled in drug out into the streets.

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If a safe deposit box is locked why do they need to open it? The business they are seizing has contact information for the owners. Let the owners bring their key and get their stuff. The warrant should specifically exclude opening the box.