Mediaboss Marketing

Attorney General Eric Holder effectively gutted a national policy Friday called equitable sharinga policy that for decades has allowed law enforcement to seize billions of dollars from criminal activities.

Under the policyoften called civil forfeiturelaw enforcement has been able to channel drug money, stolen vehicles, and even real estate back into their budgets. The policy was set up as an incentive for good police work. But it has become susceptible to abuse, with law enforcement seizing assets from law-abiding citizens.

It's another example of how Holder, whose departure from the Justice Department is pending the confirmation of his replacement, may just become President Obama's most lasting domestic-policy legacy. During his tenure, Holder has been chipping away at "war on drugs"-era policiessuch as reducing mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes and not challenging states for enacting marijuana legislation. The intended effect is to combat the disproportionately highincarceration of blacks in the nation's prisons.

Civil forfeiture is a component of that chipping away. The program was set up to encourage local forces to make drug stops. Abuses of the program inflict the most harm on the people without the means to mount legal battles in order to get their property back.

States may still allow civil forfeiture under their own laws, and Holder's decision does not affect the seizure of illegal firearms, ammunition, or other weapons. It prohibits officers from taking property without evidence of a crime.

In many cases, local authorities seize the assets and hand them over to the federal government, which would then split the bounty. Holder's new policy makes it clear: States cannot use federal law to make such seizures anymore. "With this new policy, effective immediately, the Justice Department is taking an important step to prohibit federal agency adoptions of state and local seizures, except for public safety reasons," Holder said in a statement Friday.

In 2013, Sarah Stillman collected dramatic examples of civil forfeiture for an eye-opening New Yorker story. In it, she described motorists being pulled over for minor traffic offenses and having their money or jewelry taken away from them; the parents of a small-time pot dealer having their home seized; and some police forces relying on such seizures forthe majority of their budgets.

The policy will shake the status quo in many police budgets across the country. "For hundreds of police departments and sheriff's offices the seizure proceeds accounted for 20 percent or more of their annual budgets in recent years," The Washington Post noted.

But Holder's actions can only go so far, as they do not affect individual state laws. All the assets seized since 2008 are worth $5.3 billion, notes The Post. But local seizures, not involving the federal government, amounted to $3 billion of that.

Here is the original post:
Eric Holder Keeps Chipping Away at 'War on Drugs'

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

WASHINGTON Attorney General Eric Holder is curbing the federal governments role in a civil asset forfeiture program involving local and state law enforcement agencies.

Holder says federal agencies will no longer take possession of assets seized by local law enforcement, unless the property includes firearms or and other materials that concern public safety.

The Justice Department has long allowed local law enforcement agencies to turn over seized assets to the federal government and then share in the proceeds.

The program was developed at a time when most states didnt have their own asset forfeiture laws and didnt have legal authority to forfeit seized assets.

But Holder says because all states now have civil or criminal asset forfeiture laws, its no longer necessary for local law enforcement to turn over seized property.

Read the original here:
Holder restricts federal governments role in seizing assets

Eric Holder Doesnt Know Anything Has No Idea I dont know Hilarious!
Gold was always considered as solid and save instrument. Many Countries currency was based on Gold reserves. People loved to make investment in Gold. But now this Gold is in crisis. These...

By: Bangla Muzic

Continue reading here:
Eric Holder Doesnt Know Anything Has No Idea I dont know Hilarious! - Video

AG Eric Holder Defends His Support For Cops - The Kelly File
AG Eric Holder Defends His Support For Cops - The Kelly File =========================================== **Please Click Below to SUBSCRIBE for More "Wake Up America" Videos: ...

By: Wake Up America

Visit link:
AG Eric Holder Defends His Support For Cops - The Kelly File - Video

Attorney General Eric Holder called Thursday for better tracking of police shootings and police officer deaths. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) | Mark Wilson via Getty Images

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday said the federal government needs to keep track of how many individuals are injured or killed by police officers, as well as keep better records of officer fatalities.

Recent high-profile incidents in which police officers have killed unarmed citizens have called attention to the lack of a proper count of how many people are killed by police officers each year. Speaking at a Justice Department event honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on Thursday, Holder said obtaining better data on police shootings, as well as police officer deaths, is the "first step" in working toward ensuring police officers' safety and upholding the rights of citizens.

"I've heard from a number of people who have called on policymakers to ensure better record-keeping on injuries and deaths that occur at the hands of police. I've also spoken with law enforcement leaders -- including the leadership of the Fraternal Order of Police -- who have urged elected officials to consider strategies for collecting better data on officer fatalities. Today, my response to these legitimate concerns is simple: We need to do both," Holder said.

"This would represent a common-sense step that would begin to address serious concerns about police officer safety, as well as the need to safeguard civil liberties," Holder continued. "The troubling reality is that we lack the ability right now to comprehensively track the number of incidents of either uses of force directed at police officers or uses of force by police."

Holder suggested that law enforcement agencies may lack "sufficient incentives" to report officer-involved shootings, and said many local agencies also don't properly report the injuries and deaths of police officers.

"This strikes many -- including me -- as unacceptable," Holder said. "Fixing this is an idea that we should all be able to unite behind."

In the speech, Holder also said he was "troubled and deeply disturbed by recent mischaracterizations" of the Obama administration's regard for police officers, whom he called "true American heroes -- whose patriotism, integrity and commitment to the highest standards of excellence are simply beyond question." Holder, whose brother is a retired police officer, said the White House's support for law enforcement "has been both strong and unambiguous" and that his personal support for police officers "has been steadfast" throughout his career.

Holder said the murder of two New York City police officers last month has given a "new urgency" to ongoing discussions about the need to reduce crime and build eroded public trust. He said that in discussions with police officers and citizens over the past several months he has been "struck not by the differences that have emerged, but by the remarkable commonalities."

"Let me be clear: None of these goals are in tension. None of our aims are in conflict. And so it is incumbent upon all of us to protect both the safety of our police officers and the rights and wellbeing of all of our citizens," Holder said.

Here is the original post:
Eric Holder: Lack Of Police Shooting Data 'Unacceptable'