Tulsa Attorney Blog 3 Posts Tagged 'civil forfeiture'

• Oklahoma Lawmakers Take Aim at Privateers; Tennessee Targets ‘Voluntary’ Roadside Stops

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., March 25th, 2014

  Americans’ Fourth Amendment right “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” ranks among the most zealously protected freedoms we enjoy in the United States. Yet an ever-growing list of exceptions appears to erode those fundamental freedoms. Lawmakers in both Oklahoma and Tennessee recently voted to stop some […]

• Among Asset Forfeiture Nightmares, Oklahoma Laws Loom Large

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., August 7th, 2013

  The nationwide investigative journalism project ProPublica has released a report detailing nightmare scenarios surrounding the widely used civil forfeiture process. Under civil asset forfeiture laws state, local and federal agencies routinely seize property from individuals who sometimes have not been convicted – or even charged – with a crime. According to ProPublica, the city of […]

• Private Firm’s Cash Seizures Flout Asset Forfeiture Law

  By James M. Wirth, Esq., July 24th, 2013

  A private company’s seizure of cash from motorists along a 21-mile length of I-40 in Caddo County has raised the ire of at least one judge. A Caddo County District Attorney nonetheless says he plans to “move forward” with a drug interdiction program that has had a private agency stopping and seizing cash from motorists. […]