Last year, a Wisconsin man was stopped by police for minor traffic violations and his interaction with the police eventually escalated to the point where he had his entire life savings taken from him.
Not only that, but he also admitted that he travelled with a generous amount of cash because he might come across buying opportunities for instruments.
The police ended up taking over $90,000 from him. The story was eventually picked up by the media and afterward it’s reported that a judge eventually ruled in his favor, with the state having to give his money back to him.
One of the most controversial aspects of the incident was the fact that the victim had been asked to sign a waiver on the side of the road, while he was under duress (just had his life savings taken from him).
This isn't the only time that the police have done this, there have been countless others who just like Parhamovich were asked to sign waivers on the side of the road. And it’s also been alleged that officers have threatened people that they would charge them with false allegations if they didn’t sign a waiver; giving up the rights to their property that had been taken away from them.
These highway stop waivers are a repulsive tactic, linked with civil asset forfeiture. And the police have been doing this all around the country.
However, the use of highway stop waivers has been banned in both Virginia and Texas, and now Wyoming is going to follow.
A new bill was introduced and quickly passed with bipartisan support, and this month it was signed into law. However, it won’t take effect until July. The new bill seeks to prevent law enforcement from trying to pressure people on the side of the road, to sign a waiver that gives up the rights to their property in the manner that they have been. In other words, trying to persuade them not to violate due process.
Despite the passage of the new bill however, lawmakers in that state still haven’t made any efforts to generously scale back their civil asset forfeiture practice. And this trend has fostered widespread abuse against the people. The new changes might be seen as a step in the right direction by some, but there are still many changes to be made if they are at all interested in scaling back a practice that unjustly victimizes so many.
Pics:
Pixabay
Sources:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/20/17142526/wyoming-waiver-forfeiture-phil-parhamovich
@doitvoluntarily/wisconsin-man-has-life-savings-confiscated-after-minor-traffic-stop
http://ij.org/report/policing-for-profit/grading-state-federal-civil-forfeiture-laws/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2017/12/04/another-ugly-civil-asset-forfeiture-tactic-highway-stop-waivers/2/#3d8011f0f2e6