OUTSIDE INFLUENCE HELPFUL

Regarding the story "Outsiders Push Oregon Ballot Measures" (Register-Guard,
July 30), it makes it sound as if this is a bad thing by its very nature.

While it is true that outside influence can usurp some of our local control,
this is not always to our detriment. I, for one, am grateful that New Yorker
George Soros helped to fund the desperately needed initiative that would
require police to return seized property unless the owners are convicted.

Current forfeiture law is a perverse travesty of our justice system - and
no, neither I nor any family member has ever fallen into its web. A person
can lose his or her home and everything else, even though he or she is never
convicted of a crime. Law enforcement agencies, faced with declining
budgets, can use the law to help make up for shortfalls. And what an
incentive for an unscrupulous officer to plant evidence.

Soros believes passionately in individual rights and liberties. He once
commented that "liberty is like air - you take it for granted, and don't
miss it until it's gone." His ballot proposal would require a conviction
before property can be forfeited. What possible argument could anyone make
against that?

I have no problem with forfeiture laws being applied to convicted criminals,
but too many innocents have been victimized. Soros has helped provide us
with the means to remedy this in November - and I strongly hope we do so.