Karen Dillon, ace reporter for the Kansas City Star, has written another excellent article, reporting how the California legislature has recently passed a law which - if it gets past the governor's veto - will require a turnover order from a state judge before state and local cops in California can seize property for forfeiture then turn it over to the feds for processing under federal law. (This is officially called "equitable sharing" but is more commonly known as "federal adoption.") Currently, the California forfeiture statute, amended in 1994, requires a criminal conviction before property can be forfeited (with some exceptions), but state and local police have gotten around the law by seizing property and then turning it over to the feds, who then give the state cops a kickback of up to 90% of the proceeds of the forfeiture. "Police forfeiture reform in California seen as a guide for entire country" can be found at http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/home.pat,local/3774ba88.902,.html To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with this in the body: UNSUBSCRIBE FEAR-list
