Last week WBUR and ProPublica dropped a story on how Boston Police secretly purchased a Stingray spy tool with civil asset forfeiture money and used it for years.
Civil asset forfeiture is where police take your stuff and justify the seizure by claiming it is the product of illegal activity or used in illegal activity without first convicting you of a crime. Then you have to sue to get it back, often without a lawyer. It is government theft that should be banned by the 4th Amendment. Each year the monetary value taken by civil asset forfeiture laws rivals that from burglary.
Of course we covered it in last Sunday’s Pirate News in detail:
We also talked about the latest developments with the Sacklers’ attempt to escape consequences for their part in the opioid epidemic and corruption in the US Navy (shorter version).
We are taking a break this Sunday so this Pirate News is the last of the year. We will be back on Sunday, January 2nd at 7:30pm Eastern. If you want to help us produce future episodes, drop us an email at info@masspirates.org.
Last week WBUR and ProPublica dropped a story on how Boston Police secretly purchased a Stingray spy tool with civil asset forfeiture money and used it for years.
Civil asset forfeiture is where police take your stuff and justify the seizure by claiming it is the product of illegal activity or used in illegal activity without first convicting you of a crime. Then you have to sue to get it back, often without a lawyer. It is government theft that should be banned by the 4th Amendment. Each year the monetary value taken by civil asset forfeiture laws rivals that from burglary.
Of course we covered it in last Sunday’s Pirate News in detail:
We also talked about the latest developments with the Sacklers’ attempt to escape consequences for their part in the opioid epidemic and corruption in the US Navy (shorter version).
We are taking a break this Sunday so this Pirate News is the last of the year. We will be back on Sunday, January 2nd at 7:30pm Eastern. If you want to help us produce future episodes, drop us an email at info@masspirates.org.
Happy Holidays, rest some rest and stay safe!