BAD CALL ON SEIZURES

The U.S. Supreme Court Has Unwisely Aided Confiscations Based Solely On
Suspicions

One by one, states and localities have been eager to give police broad
powers to seize assets of suspected drug dealers. Now, in a regrettable
decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has aided the trend with a ruling that
gives police broad powers to seize property without first securing a warrant.

Only two Supreme Court justices had the wisdom to dissent in this disturbing
case. Judges Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens speak for many when
they warn that the majority opinion opens the way to abandon the basic
presumption that a warrant is customarily required before property can be
seized. The high court was asked to
decide the case after the Florida Supreme Court wisely ruled that police
should have obtained a warrant before they seized a car they had videotaped
several months earlier delivering cocaine. When the car was spotted in an
office parking lot, police moved in and discovered two hits of crack cocaine
in the ash tray. The owner was later convicted of drug possession.

The automobile was seized under forfeiture laws that are in place in all
states except Nebraska, and which allow seizures without a warrant. But when
the case went to the Supreme Court, the Florida law and those of most other
states were up for review.

Writing for the high court majority, Judge Clarence Thomas found that
decades-old precedent upholds the right of police to seize contraband
without a warrant. The opinion also noted that in the Florida case, the car
was taken in a public place and therefore no issue of invasion of privacy
was involved.

Maybe so, but the growing trend nationwide is to give police even broader
powers than they have under the precedent cited by Judge Thomas. In New York
City, police cannot only seize an automobile but keep it even if the accused
is later cleared of the charges. And in one locality after another in New
York state, lawmakers have been all too anxious to give police seizure
powers that exceed both state and federal limits. In the Capital Region,
only Albany County legislators have so far shown the wisdom and restraint to
buck the trend.

Make no mistake. No one, least of all this page, is arguing for giving up
the war on drugs. But victory shouldn't come at the expense of important
constitutional safeguards outlined in the Fourth Amendment. While most
police are honest, the trend toward broader seizure laws can open the way
for abuse in the hands of overzealous or corrupt officers and politicians
seeking to portray themselves as tough on crime.

The motive of police, lawmakers and courts should always be to serve justice
first. The Supreme Court should have called it that way, too.