Search and seizure laws out of control

Illinois Congressmen, listen up. The Herald reported March 29, on Page 2 in the World & Nation in 60 seconds section, the article "Feds confiscation policy back." The article said that the Justice Department is resuming its controversial practice of seizing the assets of citizens who are frequently never convicted and often are not even charged with a crime.

A year or two ago, this practice was featured in an expose' which had shown a spotlight on how law enforcement agencies were funding their departments by legally stealing from the public at gunpoint. Citizens who had done nothing wrong were out thousands of dollars which would only be returned after a lengthy and convoluted appeals process that often required an attorney's assistance. For fairly large sums of money where the attorney's cut would make it impractical to pursue the matter, citizens would routinely just let the agencies keep their stolen money.

At a time when law enforcement agencies from around the country are dealing with the worst public trust issues in decades, how will the boys in blue acting like stick-up artists restore the public trust? The fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was in direct response to search and seizure, but over time the government which initially condemned the British for it has embraced it for itself. This is just plain wrong and needs to be fixed. If it's not, then we should be yelling, "The Blue Coats are coming, the Blue Coats are coming!"

Brian Van Dine

Glendale Heights