There is a lot of trouble in the world right now, so it's gratifying to have a victory or two. The Minnesota Supreme Court
delivered one yesterday:
In two unanimous rulings, the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday curbed law enforcers’ ability to search and seize personal possessions.
The more significant ruling, written by Justice Christopher Dietzen, extended U.S. constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure to Minnesota civil, not just criminal, matters.
The second ruling determined that police had illegally impounded and searched a properly parked vehicle.
The seizure laws in Minnesota are ridiculous, particularly where forfeiture is concerned. If you have a child who gets popped for a DWI while driving your car, the police could take your car. As the Star Tribune article explains, this creates a hell of an incentive for police to become privateers:
The ACLU of Minnesota had supported Garcia-Mendoza’s argument that the rule should apply in civil cases as a balance to “perverse incentives” for law enforcers when a profit motive is injected into police seizure of private property. It referenced the notorious case of the Metro Gang Strike Force, which repeatedly abused its forfeiture authority and cashed in on the proceeds from 2005 to 2009.
If you've forgotten the Metro Gang Strike Force, this handy timeline serves as a reminder of
how this group operated. Local police still use similar tactics, or least they have been. No matter what you think of the events in Ferguson, it's long been clear that police departments often have the wrong incentives in pursuing their job. If the job responsibilities of a constable do not include revenue generation, you're going to see a very different approach toward policing.
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