Behind the Scenes of the Caswell Forfeiture Victory
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- Опубліковано 26 січ 2014
- Last January, a federal court in Massachusetts dismissed a civil forfeiture action against the Motel Caswell, a family-run motel in Tewksbury, handing a complete victory to owners Russell and Patricia Caswell.
In one of the most contentious civil forfeiture fights in the nation, Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts concluded, based on a week-long bench trial in November 2012, that the motel was not subject to forfeiture under federal law and that its owners were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing.
The Institute for Justice and local counsel Schlossberg, LLC, brought the case to trial to expose the injustices of civil forfeiture laws that allow law enforcement agencies to pad their budgets by taking property from innocent owners who have never been convicted or even charged with a crime.
"This is a complete victory for the Caswell family and for the protection of private property rights," said Scott Bullock, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice. "The Caswells will keep their motel, and private property rights are preserved."
The government had sought to take the Motel Caswell from the Caswell family under the theory that the motel allegedly facilitated drug crimes. But the court found that Mr. Caswell "did not know the guests involved in the drug crimes, did not know of their anticipated criminal behavior at the time they registered as guests, and did not know of the drug crimes while they were occurring."
"This outrageous forfeiture action should never have been filed in the first place," said Larry Salzman, an IJ attorney. "What the government did amounted to little more than a grab for what they saw as quick cash under the guise of civil forfeiture."
Caswell said, "I couldn't have fought this fight without the help of the Institute for Justice. It is hard to believe anything like this goes on in our country, but the government goes after people they think can't afford to fight. But with IJ's help, we put up a heck of a fight and have won. The public needs to stand up against these abuses of power."
Learn More: ij.org/massachusetts-civil-for...
Watch the original case video: • POLICING FOR PROFIT: ...
The problem is that nothing ever happens to the psychopath government employees who attack normal citizens.
Exactly! The government employees need to go to jail!
There needs to be consequences for these government hacks
Exactly! The IRS needs to be abolished. But people vote for their own slavery.
They won't escape the judgment of God.
who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
That is because one crucial amendment wasn't put into the constitution. The right of the people to assemble, mobilize and remove any government, local, state or federal that is engaging in anti constitutional activities. Instead, you are threatened for such attempts.
Three years of their lives. An elderly couple put under medical level stress.. And what were the consequences for the DEA agent or the Tweksbury Police? Did the Court at least award the Russells legal costs? This is outrageous.
Privately owned by old people, no mortgage. That made it prime to steal. They were hoping these old people would die before it went to court.
The IRS is usually willing to settle for an amount, around what it will cost you for a Lawyer to defend you and prove that the IRS were criminals. They still steal your money so that the crooks like the Politicians and POTUS Crooked Donald get to pay less while we pay more to make up d=the difference.
Hey Crooked Donald. Lets see your taxes. You promised. You're the biggest Lying President the US has ever had.
@@chrisgordon5719 it's the Democrats are the rip-off dumb bunny
That’s how some hospitals do business with their patients. Patients so old would get
X-rays or CAT scans repeatedly often. Their insurance will be charged again and again.
That’s what one persons experience was shared with me.
I guess they look for "low hanging fruit" like old, modest, defenseless, citizens with little money for a legal defense.
Shame on you "Democrats" and "Republicans" Shame on you!
If anyone doubts the true nature of our government . Federal, state, local. Here it is.
Certainly some individuals extremely low character have behaved like that but so did the pilgrims and the Puritans and the Manifest Destiny freaks and the slave owners God bless Cinco de Mayo since I'm blessing I might as well bless Cincinnatus and President Washington
When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson
An armed militia is necessary to regulate the government
“There is a DEA agents who’s job it is to search online for properties to forfeit” - is this the government we want? We need to change this as soon as possible.
So, when do the DEA people go on trial ?
Ha
DEM-O-RATS won't let that happen
Bill Eblen too bad civil forfeiture is a republican ideal 😂
well just look at a lot of republican's they are RINO'S
Please; do not hold your breath...
I am outraged that this could ever happen in the US. Thank you for helping the Caswells keep what they worked so hard to get.
I bet that you still believe that we FABRICATE LIES to go MURDER millions overseas,because of so call FRUUUDUMBB AND DUMMBMOCRACY,right?
The only difference between the feds and the mafia at this point is the clothing.
Well no one in there right mind believes that a couple of gangsters can pull you over demanding I'd to search your car where you going etc etc
Actually the mob probably has better clothing and tastes!🙀
there is a difference???
not in this case.
they have worked together for years
The governments "loopholes" and vague language in new laws is done with purposeful precision. Allowing for misinterpretations and future pirating. They make laws to protect there illegal activities.
Its a shame.
we told him he could keep HIS PROPERTY... gee what a victory a man gets to keep what was already his.. oh justice be still my heart... so now the big question how are you going to stop it and who is next...
Someone belongs in prison for trying to steal this property from a law-abiding citizen.
Seriously, the Constitutional EXPLICITLY FORBIDS deprivation of property without going through due process of law first.
BINGO!!!
The problem is people keep voting for their favorite slave masters. We don't need them.
The problem is that "civil forfeiture" is due process. They seize, take it to court, and get it forfeited.
That’s why the DEA/FBI create phoney drug setups on the properties. Locally, they claim you didn’t cut your grass according to city standards. In the open country, they claim you didn’t develop your wilderness land, so you don’t need it. The govt is run by thieves, both parties.
except when the government passes laws that make it totally legal to do so, and provide little to no recourse for the victims.
This is one major reason they don't want drugs legalized /regulated.
They would lose power/control/money.
Agreed!
What will police do once self-driving cars become the norm and they can't pull people over for minor traffic violations???
Probably set up a hack so they can force the car's computer to commit a violation and use that as an excuse to pull over the car and seize it. And once seized, they can reverse the hack and delete the evidence, in case the rightful owner does go to court. They will probably require remote override software before allowing the manufacturers to put self driving cars on the road, so they can be sure to be able to hack every car.
Mr. and Mrs. "In And Out Jimmy" (a Breaking Bad reference: some people can't handle life outside prison, so they repeat minor crimes to get back in; and some are willing to let themselves be arrested and convicted of someone else's crime for money paid to their families on the outside).
Ian, pigs and their masters will do what they always do, create more "laws" making it possible to arrest whomever they want for engaging in normal activities. That's why there are literally more than 60 million "laws", state and federal, in the US now. The pigs are the problem, without them and their willingness to kill for their masters and their own greed the gov corruption would be irrelevant.
And no punishment for the pirates?
Blame Democrats and Republicans.
The pirates are protected by the doctrine of qualified or absolute immunity. The only solution is the elimination of immunity from prosecution for the pirates
I’m amazed they won
I am just so happy that InstituteForJustice even exist !
Keep up the good work, y'all are amazing 🙏
"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." US Constitution.
Three years of fear of loosing their property, and what do the Caswell's get? The State, "Ahh, we'll leave you alone for now..."
All they have to do is file a claim for the damage done to them all of these years.....Multimillion dollar claim...against these felon traitors called government....
Unfortunately, because of the doctrine of Sovereign Immunity, you can't sue the government unless Congress (or your state legislature, if it's a state matter) passes a law saying you can in this particular case. Generally, POLITICALLY POPULAR cases are settled favorably (like an innocent man who spent ten years in prison and was released after a huge groundswell of public sympathy and undeniable proof of prosecutorial misconduct), but in a "law and order, tough on crime" atmosphere as we have today, even the Caswells would probably get redress denied. Attorney General and Henry Gibson look-alike Jefferson Beauregard Sessions would be stoking the hate (knowing his racist temperament, he would probably find the one time a black guest in their hotel did drugs and harp on the owners' "N***** loving" policies in speaking to Congress).
This should be a warning: the "left" is not the threat to our liberty, the "right" is and always has been for the rights of the privileged to run the economy and the government for their benefit. The "left" has fought for the expansion of liberty to more people (slaves, immigrants, workers, the poor, Jim Crow victims, women, non Christian persons, LGBT people, etc), which is a threat to privilege. Anyone who works for a salary (or wants to but there is no job) should never vote Republican.
You need to learn history Allan. The left is the threat. They have never fought for liberty. They were the main slave owners and were the ones behind the Jim Crow laws.
Alec Edgeworth--thank you for setting Allan Richardson straight with the truth. The left IS the socialist enemy within.
James Barnes you can brand the left or right good or evil. It is just a brand.
I don't know why the IJ videos started appearing in my feed but it gives me hope for the future that there are good and smart people out there doing the right things.Thank You !!!
Love to hear victories like this. Sickened that it was ever in doubt.
Thank you for all your hard work. The civil asset forfeiture laws have gone unchecked for too long. It is legal extortion and many can’t even afford to fight back.
I got the civil asset forfeiture case dismissed in my favor but the police department still refuses to return my money to me. There is no one policing the police these days.
Thank you for standing up for American citizens!! The DEA asset discovery searches are criminal. (mentioned at 2:40 in the vid) The judgment citing "Claimant has met his burden of proving the innocent owner defense" should be used to overturn forfeiture law. In America we are to be innocent until proven guilty! Conviction should be required in forfeiture, and the financial incentive for corruption should be eliminated by giving any seizure only to crime victims.
If crimes happened on a person's property then the law enforcement officers should have arrested the perps. Therefore the problem was due to lack of law enforcement protection of the innocent property owner.
Wow I’m so glad for these people. I hope for blessings on them for the rest of their lives!
AMEN, GREAT BLESSINGS TO THE CASWELLS!!!!! And huge thank you’s to the attorneys that worked this case, and screw the government for trying to steal from old folks!!!!!!
Who had to pay for all THE LEGAL BILLS? THE GOVERNMENT CAME IN TO DO A GRAB AND COST THIS FAMILY i AM SURE THOUSANDS!
This should NEVER be acceptable!!!
That's what you get when the American public makes the intentional decision to kiss the government's and politicos' asses.
"Just obey the law and you have nothing to fear."
...except for a bogus forfeiture claim that threatens to steal everything you have ever worked for...
The loser of a case in Federal courts pays the ENTIRE bill.
Have you guys noticed that ALL victims of these robberies through the so-called civil forfeiture are white or non-black and most of them happened under the anti-white Obama regime? Just like the IRS had been used by the Obama regime as a tool of oppression against white people and conservatives, the civil forfeiture law has also been used as a tool for robbing innocent white small business owners under the Obama regime. Obama should have been arrested for violating the Constitutional Right of the Americans.
simon6071
simon6071 you are a disgusting liar...you could not provide any evidence to support your asinine claims.NONE.
Hats off to you and your organization for the hard work you do. Nice to see Americans fighting for Americans.
The two dislike on this video is cops who lost similar cases
Northern Lighting
Or the DEA agent & Sheriff that lost?
Never assume. Perhaps the dislikes on this video were because of the way the Caswells were treated.
Northern Lighting Dont you see? Its socialism. or more. communism
@@LEK-we2hh It's actually Capitalism causing this problem. America is so obsessed with lowering tax rates that all your services are now insufficiently funded. That means small town cities, big cities, cops, prosecutors, and agencies with the legislative support structure to augment their funding now resort to opportunism. My country has a pretty high tax rate, but our welfare, hospitals, legal and police services are well funded and dont need to wrench at the possessions of private citizens, unless they are proceeds of crime. And our corporations still make great profits.
You guys are so awesome. Thank you for protecting our rights from predatory police.
Awesome job. Thank you for standing up for our rights.
Good for him! I hope he can help many others who are dealing with this.
Amazing story and amazing work. Thank you from every average American and protecting our laws.
Can the DEA agent be countered sued?
Anyway, great victory!
No lawyer would take that case, because you have almost no chance of winning. Only reason he won is because he found a lawyer that was willing to work for free. Otherwise he would have lost the motel.
No but like every human .. they can be disappeared.
Well they shouldn't be breathing. D's and R's......
Thank you for disseminating this information.
Despicable authorities in this country deserve prison time and sued for millions. 👎👎
Absolutely unbelievable what are Government can & will do for money & power
Thanks for the good work you r organization does defending folks from unjust actions by those in authority.
This win brought tears to my eyes. Thank you.
Fight the power! I am soooo happy for these people.
Yeah my friend ! First Calvary Knows what a fight is . They have been in thousands of fights . And when allowed ,,,,, were always victorious . 25th Infantry Division ,,,, My Heritage ! Thanks,,,,,,
The officer and all involved need to be arrested for the crimes against this man!
County Sheriffs are responsible for defending and protecting the Constitution, and is also chief enabler or disabler of all forfeiture cases. Leverage your sheriffs in these cases.
Supposed to protect the people too and their rights , not join in with a corrupt force .to reap their own rewards from the criminal actions by our Gov. this Sheriff should of not allowed this to happened and should have been standing by this hard working family to protect them from an illegal seizure.period.
Keep voting.....
And if the Sheriff ect. doesn't stand up for the citizens rights, get rid of him and elect a sheriff who will.
We had issues in the rural town I lived in years ago. The sheriff created a narcotics taskforce and hired a game warden to use his warrantless search abilities. The only problem for them was that they weren't seizing drugs or enforcing game and fishing laws. They were just kicking in doors and robbing people. To the point that everyone in the county knew or was related to someone who had been a victim to their taskforce. The citizens voted his ass out and the knew sherriff on his first day fired the sherriff and all but one of his deputies. The former sheriff works at a funeral home now because it's the only job he can find.
“ We told him that he was going to get to keep his property and that everything was going to be OK.” …until the retaliation begins.
Wish we had a group like InstituteForJustice here in Canada.
A court case is about: "cost to defend" not always the case itself...
Guilty until you pay to prove your innocence
Thank you for what you do for all these people.. you guys are awesome!
Awesome Job! It's very uplifting to hear the results. This couple should have never been put in this position.
thanks for all your hard work...
I love this channel & its civil warriors, fighting the good fights!! 👏👏
Thank you so much too i j God bless you guys you're doing the Lord's work civil asset forfeiture is egregious it's amazing that we call ourselves a civil society and do stuff like this
WHY IS THE LORD NOT DOING ANYTHING.
God Bless You !! You All are really what is Great about this world ! You give me Hope there are Great Attorneys out there !!!
thank you for your important work
How do we hold the perpetrators of this outrage accountable? Where is their justice?
This should have way more than 3 million views. I guess that will happen when more people experience what the Caswell's did.
Thank You
thanks IJ...great work.
I grew up in tewksbury while the Caswell was around it was always known to be a drug and prostitution hotspot but it was also these cheapest motel around and close to major highways and stores he sold the property not long after for a good chunk of change and its now a very popular bowling alley and bar but ill never forget the caswell it was part of the towns lore and history
I followed this case also, was he reimbursed for all the legal fees? I heard he had to take a mortgage out to cover all his legal fees. I would sue the court for those fees. If they were not reimbursed. Also for the criminal charge for trying to take his property. Attempt of robbery Maybe? Government does not learn unless you take their money away. Take their money away! Make our government defend their actions.
They don’t learn until you take away their revenue OR until cops actually start dying
Funny thing is its not the Gov. money ect Gov. doesn't anything the people own. IT.
The government doesn't care if cops get killed. The government doesn't care, they just send in more cops. It's the cops that would finally be inspired to tell the government to back off if enough get killed.
Obviously some of the victims need to catch up to certain government officials.
"No ones life, liberty, or property are safe whilst the legislature is in session." Anon.
Thank God for Institute for Justice and the great work you do! #CivilAssetForfeiture needs to be gone forever.
While I appreciated this story, it almost sounded like it was the victims’ cooperation with the cops that caused the judge to rule in their favor. No one should be forced to cooperate with cops to keep their property from being stolen by those very same cops. That’s not cooperation - that’s blackmail. While cooperating is a nice civic thing to do, no one who has not been convicted of a crime should have to cooperate in order to keep the government from taking what’s theirs. Whether they turned in drug dealers is irrelevant. Should the owners have bugged the rooms too? What about Hilton, Marriott and other large hotel chains?
The government picked this couple because they were pretty sure they couldn’t fight back. Notice that the government has never tried to seize a Hilton or a Trump Tower or a Marriott, even though crimes are committed everyday in large corporate hotel chains and casinos - everything from drugs to prostitution to racketeering. The level of crime committed in large corporate hotels dwarfs that committed in mom and pop organizations, but they come after mom and pop and ignore the large corporations, because the large corporations are connected and the cop will lose his job.
Never cooperate with the police. The Supreme Court recommends NEVER talking to the police.Never.
Brilliantly done against more American injustice
sue them for lost profit, legal fees, and all the bull crap he had to endure.
Hanging is too good for these "public servants".
Did the Feds pay the attorneys fees?
Not that I can find anywhere.... we the tax payer paid the bill for the feds to exercise frivolous actions, and at most the feds only replied to the family saying eah sorry for the inconvenience but it happens and so get use to it
You people are ACTUAL Justice warriors!
Great work IJ and thanks to the judge for seeing through the BS
If the "Law Enforcement" do not go home safely at the end of their shift, this shit would stop REAL fast!!!
Congratulations IFJ!!
Good to see people who care about what is right making a difference.
Thanks institute for justice
There's a meth lab at the CIA headquarters in Langley Virginia. It exploded.
What really pisses me off about stories like this is the actions of the DEA agent paid to locate items that they could apply asset forfeiture to was an "active intention", yet it gets portrayed as some legal loophole or as a danger "inherent to the system". The Caswells, God bless them, were the victims of a pre-planned crime on a very legal and moral basis! Are there no consequences to these kinds of SCHEMES? What about the DEA employee.. Is he still working? Did that employee receive a new job based on the fact that now "the gig was up?" The system is broken I'm afraid and they are using tax dollars to perpetuate this nonsense. I look forward to when we can do more about things like this than display them on the internet!
Not sure if the feds were involved, but look up what they did to Donald Scott out in Ventura County, California. Wikapedia doesn't really go into full details about the case, but they set a surveillance team onto the property and later a husband and wife prospective buyers team and no marijuana growing was discovered. Only when an aerial observation plane said they observed something did they get a warrant. Of course, it was the typical pig lie coming from the law abusement lackey's within that community of crooks.
@@MrDLRu I need to find a place that makes bumper stickers. The time is ripe for a "You Support Law Enforcement? Is THAT What You Think We're Getting?" We've become laughing stock with our blathering on about how "Free" we are over here.
God Bless you IJ...thanks from all us to all of you...
Great news and an example to property owners.
IJ is doing such good works by representing these victims and sending a message to the government that we are watching them.
he should sue the federal goverment and go to the supreme court and have these laws abolished
There is no sue for government because all judges. prosecutors. police attorney's eat from the same toilet full of forfeited property's
Welcome to USA you must remain silent until we find a reason to take you everything
We are the cockroaches of the modern gangster's of the government
Wrong u sue them on the peoples court for damages...on their private capacity.
I cannot recall the author of this statement but I think it’s appropriate for this story. “When government fears the people there is liberty. When people fear the government there is tyranny.”
I love to hear the outcomes of your stories.
Thank you, Institute for Justice. The prophet Isaiah said, "And justice standeth afar off." This story reveals that there is at least a tiny bit of justice left, but look at the cost and effort it took to achieve it.
Keep his property but for how long, the gov doesn't like to lose and may start all over again, after all, it's not their money they're spending, it's ours.
This is insane. I have never heard of something like this. Wow...
To say the least they did recover their ownership of the property Look what happened to me
www.simonprophet.com/whatswrongwiththispicture.htm
God Bless you all at the I.J.!! Keep up the great work!
those specific dea agents need to get a new job that has nothing to do with investigations or the police force.
Shocking report but a great win in the end, for the older couple who was targeted by a DEA agent, who was using the courts to gain access to their property with a civil forfeiture law & getting local police department to help him, steal this couples business, lock, stock & barrel. :(
Thanks for posting the details & for a look at those law firms, like the Institute for Justice, who are stepping up to help members of the public defend themselves and their property from unjust attacks & forfeiture property stealing by the DEA and local law enforcement.
Good Friends!!! God bless you ALL!!!
Thank you for helping the Caswells
this was not 'policing for profit', this was armed robbery under color of authority and I hope he countersues and wins a big settlement.
The people who took their money should have their pension's taken away and then you see how quick supposedly lawmen stand down. I would imagine they never apply this law and steal larger co's profits.
Wow! Great job, guys!!!
Thank God for these attorneys
If the state treated me like that then here's my reaction BANG BANG
"federal government"? Nope. Some local sheriff was hoping to buy the motel at auction (with only him bidding) to fund his retirement.
a man of many parts I believe you!
Yes, cops and sherrifs we're all in on this.
Let's all focus on what russ is doing now. He's standing up for us just like ij. Thank you. you guys give me hope that in America we always have the opportunity to correct the wrong we faces.
There is nothing that the government cannot make worse.
Federal Court defence lawyer cost is about 50,000 to 150,000 $ to start. Yea. Can ya see a problem here. ?
Especially after the police have _taken all your property!!_
Ya everybody wins except the people fighting their corruption .
Police: why does no one respect us!
Also police: I'm gonna ask you to sign this civil asset forfeiture paper and you won't go to jail but we'll take all your stuff and you can't get it back
COPS HAVE NO IDEA --- THAT IS THE SAD PART.
This story had a great ending! Thank you IJ!!!
I'm not religious even a bit but you guys are friggin' angels.
YAH BECAUSE NO ONE EVER DID ANYTHING ILLEGAL IN A HILTON lol...
Thank you IJ
Our forefathers warned us about an overly powerful government....
The DEA agent should be held financially liable for the cost of this trial.