PRESUMED GUILTY:

THE LAW'S VICTIMS IN THE WAR ON DRUGS

by Andrew Schneider & Mary Pat Flaherty
published in Pittsburgh Press, August 11 - December 22, 1991
(c) Pittsburgh Press (reprinted with permission)
 

Government Seizures Victimize Innocent,
August 11, 1991 (victim stories of Willie Jones, Joseph and Frances Lopes, Ethel Hylton, Johnny Sotello, Barry Kolin, Robert Brewer, Tracy Thomas)

• The law: Guilt doesn't matter
• Police forces keep the take
• 'Looking' like a criminal
• Paying for your innocence
• Minor crimes, major penalties
• Ending the abuse

Government Seized Home of Man Who Was Going Blind,
August 11, 1991 (victim story of medical marijuana user James Burton)

Drug Agents Far More Likely To Stop Minorities,
August 12, 1991 (victim stories of Byron Boudreaux, Willie Jones, Juana Lopez, Kevin Belcher)

• Stereotypes trigger stops
• Livelihood in jeopardy
• Money still held
• Trivial pursuit
• The perfect profile
• Wide net cast

Drugs Contaminate Nearly All the Money in America,
August 12, 1991

Police Profit By Seizing Homes of Innocent,
August 13, 1991 (victim stories of Frances and Joseph Lopes, Karen and Reggie Lavalee, Loretta Stearns, T.T. Masonry Inc., Grady McClendon, Carl and Mary Shelden)

• Feared for their son
• 'Dumb judgment'
• Proving innocence
• Landlord as cop
• It looks like coke
• Seller, beware

Civil Forfeitures Can Threaten A Company's Existence,
August 13, 1991 (victim stories of Stone Oak National Bank, Ricardo Alberto Camacho, VeriFone)

Crime Pays Big for Informants in Forfeitures
August 14, 1991

35 Arrested Despite Bumbling Ways of Informant
August 14, 1991 (victim story of Sheri and Matthew Farrell)

With Sketchy Data, Government Seizes House From Man's Heirs
August 14, 1991 (victim story of George Gerhart)

Crimes Are Small But `Justice' Takes All
August 15, 1991 (victim stories of Robert Machin and Joann Lidell, Robert and Brenda Schmalz, Jack Blahnik, Dickey Kaster, Don and Ruth Churchill, Bradshaw Bowman)

• Town: Back off
• Let the feds do it
• Headaches
• A costly catch
• Mixed crop
• A handful of trouble

Jet Seized, Trashed, Offered Back for $66,000
August 15, 1991 (victim stories of Bill and Karon Munnerlyn)

Forfeiture Threatens Constitutional Rights
August 16, 1991

• Ill-defined procedures
• No accounting for money
• Circumventing state law
• Short-sighted solutions

Teddy Bears: Drug-fighting Sheriff in Detroit Says His Force Puts Warnings, Compassion Before Forfeitures
August 16, 1991 (story about Wayne County Sheriff Robert Ficano)

Justice Dept. Pulls Out Of Panel In Dispute on Forfeiture
August 18, 1991

Some Win Back Assets After Drug Forfeitures,
December 22, 1991 (victim stories of Sheri and Matt Farrell, Judy Mulford, Bill and Karon Munnerlyn, Willie Jones, Don Churchill)