Ferguson and Chicago

[billroper]

Feeling cynical today, aided by this article about how the City of Chicago uses civil forfeiture to suck money out of the poor -- or, I suppose, anyone else unfortunate enough to get caught in their net. This is all too similar to how towns like Ferguson, Missouri (you all remember Ferguson, right?) use their police as a revenue source to keep their city budgets intact.

Chicago, of course, is one of the bluest of blue cities out there.

But Chicago's leaders care.

Deeply.

About something.

Hint: it isn't you.

Comments

[madfilkentist]

A car thief by any other name...

[tigertoy]

Civil asset forfeiture is one of the more odious government practices I know of. Only a lawyer could find it remotely Constitutional. I don't think Chicago is unique or even especially unusual in its use of the practice, which doesn't excuse it.

I'm sure the officials responsible these policies would plead in their defense that they aren't motivated by animus but by desperation, since their more legitimate taxes don't support essential services. There's quite a lot of economic injustice out there and it's not completely fair to place blame for one part of it in isolation. If the Chicago area weren't so greatly segregated by wealth, both in terms of governments and in terms of neighborhoods, Chicago's police and courts might not resort to such methods to fund their operations. Or maybe not, the Federal government isn't so great either.