Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

May 26 2009

With the economy continuing to collapse and pools of taxable income drying up, state and local governments are on the prowl for new sources of revenue. County commissioners in Ohio have made a suggestion sure to be popular with tax-feeders nation-wide: They want to make it easier for money-hungry counties to use assets seized in drug cases.

Through a process called asset forfeiture, sheriff?s offices and police departments can confiscate cash and other property from people suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking. Under present laws, it?s not even necessary to prove that the people from whom the assets were taken were involved in criminal activity.

According to Commissioner Don Foley of Ohio?s Montgomery County, ?We?re in a budgetary time when the old rules don?t apply.? Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer maintains that the revenue from forfeiture is a ?pot? that can keep growing. This will mean turning police into undisguised agents of official plunder.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.