Civil forfeiture without due process must end

We’ve all heard the stories. The cops pull someone over and find a large amount of cash. They suspect drug-running so they seize the cash. The person tries to get his money back but to no avail. It’s called civil forfeiture. It happens far too often and it needs to stop.

Did you know that, according to the Institute for Justice, 80 percent of people from whom the federal government seized property under civil forfeiture laws were never even charged with a crime? Eighty percent!

How can that be? How can the government just take your possessions? Here’s how. Civil forfeiture actions are what’s known as in rem proceedings. That’s latin for “against a thing.” In other words, the government pretends to try inanimate objects. That’s why we get cases like United States v. $35,651.11 in U.S. Currency or State of Texas v. One 2004 Chevrolet Silverado.  They ostensibly try inanimate objects for their involvement in criminal activity. That means the person who owns the property doesn't necessarily have to be charged and, most times, isn’t.

In many cases, the law enforcement department seizing the property gets to keep it. The town of Richland, MS has just built themselves a brand new $4.1 million police station funded by civil forfeiture money. Cops sit out on I-20 and pull over suspected drug-runners. They take their cash and anything they take they get to keep.

That’s the perverted incentive of civil forfeiture. It’s known by opponents of civil forfeiture as “police for profit.” Policing for profit has exploded in the last few years. According to IJ, the top ten forfeiture money-earning agencies in Texas got more than a third of their budgets from civil forfeiture. A former NY City police commissioner pointed out that cops often set up roadblocks on the southbound lanes of I-95 which carry the cash to Miami to buy the drugs instead of actually catching the drugs on the northbound lanes. Cash can be seized and spent. Drugs have to be destroyed.

But the police aren’t the only ones, by far. One of the most egregious money-snatchers is the IRS. There are countless stories of the IRS stealing money out of bank accounts because they didn’t like the way the money was deposited. Any deposit over $10,000 has to be reported by the bank to the IRS. If you make several “structured” cash deposits under 10 grand the IRS might just take everything in your bank account. From 2005 to 2012, they seized more than $242 million in more than 2,500 cases.

Were some of those people engaged in criminal acts of evading taxes? Probably. How many is impossible to tell since many never go to court. The IRS just keeps the money. At least a third of the cases are nothing more than a series of cash transactions with apparently no other criminal activity even alleged. That’s scary. If the owners of the money ever do get that money back it likely will take at least a year and cost them untold dollars in legal fees.

No one should have their property taken from them without first being convicted of a crime involving that property. It’s really that simple. Civil forfeiture as we know it needs to end. What certainly needs to end is allowing the departments that seize your property to keep it. That’s just ripe for corruption.

It’s time to end civil forfeiture. Get rid of the profit incentive and require a criminal conviction before property can be taken. Make the bad guys the incentive, not the money.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

They're coming to take us away, ho-ho, he-he, ha-ha

People are freaking out over Jade Helm 15 and most Americans have no idea what all the fuss is about. To bring you up to speed, Jade Helm 15 is a long-planned military exercise involving U.S. Special Operations forces like the Navy SEALs and the Green Berets. It will last 8 weeks starting July 15 and cover 7 states. When several Walmart stores mysteriously closed, including some in the states where Jade Helm will take place, the conspiracy nuts really went bonkers.

Look, I understand the inherent distrust of our government. I think that’s healthy. We should always be skeptical. We should always be asking questions. However, common sense should be our guide.

It’s rather difficult to ascertain exactly what the conspiracy theorists are coming unglued over. What I hear most is the institution of martial law, the rounding up of patriots and putting them in FEMA camps (whatever that’s supposed to be), and the confiscating of all the guns. As far as the detention centers are concerned, that’s where the Walmart angle comes in. Walmart has closed several stores over supposed “plumbing issues,” although we’re told no plumbing permits have been pulled in those towns. The conspiracy goes that those Walmart stores will be used as prisons when Jade Helm rounds up all the patriots.

Now, let’s throw in a healthy dose of common sense. First off, why would Obama want to upset this perfect apple cart he’s got going? He’s getting virtually everything he wants, despite a Republican Congress. Why would he now want to go into Texas, Utah, New Mexico and other states and start rounding people up?

Here’s the big common sense question. Who in their right mind thinks a bunch of Navy SEALs and Green Berets, who are arguably some of the most conservative people in the country, are going to follow an Obama order to round up innocent citizens and throw them in prison? That’s the part that’s really gotten to the participants of Jade Helm. They can understand suspicion of the government but they’re offended that people would think they would be a part of such a conspiracy.

But, of course, these conspiracy theories have been around for decades. Most recently, unfortunately, they’ve been fueled by some in talk radio and knee-jerk sites on the Internet. I’ve listened to these government conspiracies since the early ‘80s. To date, I can’t think of one that’s come true.

All one has to do is look at the track record of those spouting out all this nonsense. In fact, just look at some of the conspiracy theories and you start to see a pattern of disconnect from reality. There’s, of course, the 9/11 cover-up that theorizes 9/11 was an inside job by George W. Bush and the Twin Towers were imploded with explosives, not brought down by terrorists hijacking airplanes. In fact, the theory goes, there were no terrorists on those planes, just CIA operatives. How they managed to survive is anyone’s guess. There’s the ‘Secret Societies Control the World’ theory in which the Rothschilds are the ones pulling the strings and we are all mere marionettes. The moon landings were faked, the Holocaust didn’t happen and we’re all being ruled by reptilian elites from another planet.

Am I worried that all the patriots are going to be rounded up into FEMA camps during July and August? Not in the least. Just like those who freaked over Y2k, the only cure for this conspiracy is time. When it doesn’t happen we'll all know the truth. I’ll see you in September.


Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

A killer cartoon of Muhammad

You probably heard about the Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, TX. Two gunmen were shot dead by police outside the event after they wounded a security guard. Although the gunmen were the terrorists it was the organizer of the event, Pamela Geller, who took the brunt of the criticism. Geller is the founder of the American Freedom Defense Initiative. Her group sponsored the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest.

Comments on the story in the Washington Post were downright chilling. “Something needs to be done about this woman,” one reader wrote. “She is a bonafide, unhinged nutcase who is inciting violence and hatred.” Interesting. Not one word about the gunmen who came to kill people at the event.

See, this is the problem. People blame those who exercise free speech instead of those who try to kill it. Remember Rev. Terry Jones? He’s the Florida pastor who threatened to burn Korans in protest of radical Islam. Halfway around the world, people were killing because of it. Did the politically correct chastise the killers? No. They condemned Jones. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “It’s regrettable that a pastor in Gainesville, Florida with a church of no more than fifty people can make this outrageous and distressful, disgraceful plan and get, you know, the world’s attention.” The reason he got so much attention is because there are so many people who believe if you insult Islam or Muhammad you should die. That’s the problem, not Rev. Jones.

Let me draw some parallels here. There are plenty of people who desecrate the flag. That may be an offensive thing to do but they have that right. In fact, the Supreme Court has affirmed that right. What if someone started going around shooting flag-burners because it offended them? Would these same folks who are jumping all over Geller be telling us the flag-burners were inciting violence and hatred? No. They would be criticizing the killers, and justifiably so.

What’s scary is how many people on the Post site were siding with the terrorists and attacking Pamela Geller. Admittedly, Geller takes an in-your-face approach to the issue. I understand that may rub some people the wrong way but free speech is free speech. The founders spelled out our right to free speech not to protect speech we agree with but to protect speech we find disagreeable.

Heck, after Hillary and others concocted the story about the video about Muhammad sparking the attack in Benghazi, Sen. Chuck Schumer wanted to have Rev. Jones arrested! Jones had nothing to do with the attack, nor did any Muhammad video, as it turns out. The problem is too many people are selective when it comes to protecting free speech. The ACLU has defended the KKK in court over just this issue. If something as repugnant as the Klan is protected then, to be sure, so is a cartoon of Muhammad. Flag burning is OK but drawing a cartoon of Muhammad is not? When did we get this turned upside down?

Let me state this clearly because this is important. If you believe that anyone who insults Islam should die you should not be allowed to set foot in the United States. Your views are incompatible with the American way of life.

By the way, Jesus is fair game with these folks. I wonder if Christians starting killing anyone who insulted Christianity these folks in the Post would come to their defense. Not likely.

The irony is the liberals are the first ones the Islamic extremists will kill if we ever give them that chance.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Human nature and the lawnmower

The 'Johnny B Lawnmower Fund' ended up being a very interesting social experiment. Just for the sake of background, we had the story of the Oregon couple that refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding and were fined $135,000. They set up a fundraiser on GoFundMe but GoFundMe took it down citing a violation of the their terms and conditions. Which got me to wondering how easy would it be to start an online fundraiser. As it turns out, it was very easy. Took all of 45 seconds.

For the record, the lawnmower for Johnny B was my idea. I’ve heard his stories of push-mowing his 3 acres and borrowing riding lawnmowers from neighbors. I know people love the man and thought it would be interesting to see how (or if) they would respond with their money.

The response basically broke down into three groups. I anticipated the first group of people, those who either donated to the cause because they love Johnny B and wanted him to have a new mower or they didn't donate but still wanted him to have it. These were the folks who saw this for what it was, a way to do something nice for a great guy.

I also saw the second category coming, those who thought the cause was frivolous and thought we should give the money to charity. I heard from several of these people who could name all sorts of causes that were more in need than Johnny B and a lawnmower. Of course, I could list a bunch that were less worthy. Although I disagreed with the second category, I could certainly understand their point.

However, I did not see Category 3 coming. These were folks who were actually consumed with jealousy and anger, so much so that several even petitioned our program director to fire us. One lamented how he only had a push mower and was saving to put his daughter through college and it wasn't fair that Johnny B was getting a new mower for free. In fact, he thought it was outrageous. While he was at it, he attacked me for talking about working on my boat. (I guess he doesn't have one of those, either) Apparently he doesn’t know that my “boat” was about two steps away from the scrap yard when I bought it. Apparently, he thinks I’m Aristotle Onassis. 

The morning after we launched the campaign I got an e-mail from Johnny B. He didn’t feel right about taking the money. He sort of fell into Category 2. He said there were all sorts of causes that were much more worthy of people’s money. I told him I understood his feelings but it was my opinion that people wanted him to have that mower. Ultimately it was his call.

As we prepared to go to air, Johnny and I had a quick conversation. He wanted to give the money to charity and I respected his wishes. So, we explained the situation as we went on and I must admit I did not anticipate the response. (Another interesting social experiment) Many of the people who had given were upset. They said they gave the money specifically to Johnny B and our switching the cause to some unnamed charity was deceptive. We were in the proverbial Catch-22. That’s when I had the idea to put a poll on our website at PhilValentine.com and let the people decide. Before our people could post the poll, we got a very interesting phone call. The caller pointed out that we had already posted a poll. I asked him to explain. He said we set up a GoFundMe account and people could either donate or they could choose not to. That was the poll. I had to admit, it was a great point.

And it got me to thinking about those three categories of people. The first category was delighted to see Johnny B with a new mower but the other two were less so. Why? Why would someone care if Johnny B got a mower or not? As one tweeter pointed out, “What does this have to do with charity? This is a gift. You don’t have to be poor to receive gifts.” Another great point.

Category 1 has it right. They come upon an opportunity to give something to someone they’ve enjoyed on the radio for years and they’re genuinely happy for him. No jealousy. No comparing Johnny B to their own lives and whether he “deserves” it based on what life has dealt them.

Category 2 has a good heart but they’re overthinking it. As the tweeter pointed out, “You don’t have to be poor to receive gifts.” And that’s what this is. It’s not a charity. It’s a gift from those who have listened to the show and have appreciated what Johnny B brings to it. If you’re constantly overthinking where money goes then you probably need to forego that movie or that nice restaurant because there will always be a worthier cause than your own selfish desires. You can drive yourself crazy doing that. Just relax and understand that Johnny B getting a lawnmower is not taking anything away from the earthquake victims in Nepal or the starving children in Bangladesh. In fact, feel good in knowing that the $20 someone gave to the lawnmower fund is $20 less given to some carbon-spewing, minimum-wage-paying, multinational corporation.

The folks in the third category have some serious problems to work through. Everything in life is filtered through the prism of how unfair life has been to them. It’s not fair that someone gets something that they want when they don’t have it. They are eaten up with envy. Remember, as our senior research analyst says, envy is the mirror image of greed. Isn’t there something in the Bible about thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s lawnmower? Of course, there’s always someone who can look at you the same way. For the jealous guy with the push mower there’s some cat cutting his grass with a pair of scissors and just fuming over the guy with the luxurious push mower. (Self-propelled, as he later admitted. Such conspicuous consumption)

At the end of the day, I learned a great deal about human nature. When I devised this little experiment I knew we’d be creating a storm. I just didn’t realize it would be a category 3. 

(If you would like to give Johnny B the gift of a riding lawnmower, click here and give what’s in your heart. His aching back will thank you.)

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

A predictable reaction in Baltimore

I get it. A guy is arrested by police, suffers a severed spine in the process and dies. I was outraged when the video of the arrest first surfaced and was pleased to hear there would be a formal investigation with the officers involved put on leave. That’s how the system works. And with a hyphenated black female mayor of Baltimore there was no doubt that the investigation would be thorough.

But that’s not good enough for the Sharptonesque rent-a-mobs. It doesn’t matter that the system is working. It doesn’t matter that justice is being served. They want to show up and burn down. That’s what they do. That’s what they did.

And the mayor sure didn’t help by saying the city needed to give the protestors space to destroy. Why didn’t she offer the “space” of her home if she so believed in their right to destruction. Then she looked all surprised when they looted and burned.

Surprised? This is what these people do. These people? Yes, those who lie in wait for a racial moment to exploit. Are they angry? Perhaps. More like crazy. What’s even crazier is a mayor and police force that stand by as they torch a couple of police cars then loot and burn a CVS store. Now, to give credit, the police commissioner was as outraged as anyone with the conduct of the thugs who looted and burned and, perhaps, his department was just outmanned. However, allowing even the least bit of destruction can only embolden the criminals to take it to the next level.

Is there a problem with police brutality? I’m willing to entertain that possibility. A severed spine during an arrest sounds pretty brutal to me. Do you solve a police brutality problem by burning down a drug store? Absolutely not. That’s the part that enrages me. Anyone who justifies looting and burning is as big a thug as the looters and arsonists.

There has always been a tense relationship between the police and minority communities. It’s sort of a Catch-22. These communities are where the highest crime rate is so, naturally, they’re going to have a greater police presence. Were the police to simply withdraw and leave the community to the criminals they would be accused of racism. So, this powder keg is ever-present. It only takes a spark to set it off, which is exactly what happened in Baltimore. The funeral for Freddie Gray was that spark and the result was a raging fire.

For the mayor to even suggest that rioters need their space to destroy is totally irresponsible and she shoulders at least some of the blame for what happened. Baltimore has worked hard to reverse its reputation from the ‘60s and ‘70s as a complete dump of a town. I’ve visited Baltimore on a number of occasions and they’ve done a remarkable job remaking their city’s image. This ain’t gonna help.

Riots like this can do irreparable damage to a city, or at least a neighborhood. Watts has never recovered from the riots of 1965. What’s the chance a company is going to relocate to Ferguson, MO anytime soon? Would you want to move there?

It starts with putting out the little fires first, like graffiti and gangs. I once suggested that to Jesse Jackson and he told me graffiti was the “hieroglyphics of oppression.” Need we look any further for the problem? When people of influence even remotely justify crime then it’s a green light for the criminals. And no one should be surprised when they burn your town down.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Public opinion on guns takes a major shift

We may have Obamacare, whether we like it or not. We may have illegal aliens streaming across the border. The spineless Republicans in Congress have facilitated both. But there’s one issue where conservatives and constitutionalists are winning and winning big. Gun rights.

All 50 states have some form of carry law. The Supreme Court has struck down at least a couple of onerous laws banning guns. Perhaps even more important is that public opinion on the matter has shifted and shifted dramatically in the last several years.

President Obama and the liberals tried to make hay with the Newtown school shooting. They attempted to exploit the tragedy and turn public opinion against guns. Just the opposite has happened. According to Pew Research, Americans’ views on guns have shifted dramatically. They asked a simple question. Is it more important to control gun ownership or protect the right of Americans to own guns. Shorting after Sandy Hook, 66 percent sided with gun control while only 29 percent thought it was important to protect gun rights. After hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by the anti-gun crowd to sway public opinion, now gun control has dropped to 46 percent and gun rights have shot up to 52 percent. That’s a 20-point drop in gun control and a 23 percent jump in gun rights.

What’s driving this is the public’s growing awareness that owning a gun makes one safer. Only 35 percent believed it prior to Sandy Hook. Now 63 percent do. Conversely, the percentage of people who believe having a gun in the house makes it a more dangerous place has plummeted from 51 percent to 30 percent. In other words, more than twice as many people now believe that having a gun in the house makes it a safer place rather than a more dangerous one. 

The gun-grabbers were sure that a high-profile, multi-victim shooting would work to their advantage. They were wrong. What it did was elevate the entire gun debate. Once people start looking at it rationally, more times than not they come to understand that guns are not the problem. Moreover, they understand that in order to keep them and their families safe, they need a gun.

This is as old as the country itself. There were no gun-free zones at the founding of the United States. People back then knew that a gun-free zone had the potential to be a killing zone. Nothing has changed in that regard. Those little signs with a gun and a red line through it do absolutely nothing to deter killers. In fact, they only encourage them. Would you put a gun-free zone sign in your front yard? Of course, not. Why on earth would you want to advertise something like that? Then why do we have these signs in front of schools? Why would a restaurant owner or a mall want to advertise that all law-abiding citizens inside are unarmed?

No, just the opposite should be true. The criminals should be left guessing as to who has a gun. The multiple-victim shooters choose soft targets. They want to kill on their own terms and die on their own terms. Do you ever hear of one of these nuts opening fire at a gun show?

Public opinion is shifting on this issue because the people are using common sense. More and more places are allowing guns. More and more businesses understand that you don’t make your patrons sitting ducks. That’s bad news for the criminals but it’s great news for us.


Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

College Sex Week, and you're paying for it

Well, Sex Week just concluded at the UT Knoxville. Yeah, Sex Week. They got the idea from Brown University. If you want to emulate an Ivy League school, this ain’t the way to do it.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem teaching kids about sex but if you haven’t learned from classroom instruction by the time you’ve reached college you’re probably self taught. Some of the classes were merely using juvenile innuendo, like the one titled ‘Road Head: The Roll of the Automobile in American Sexuality.’ Others were more in-your face, like ‘Your Hair Down There: Pubic Hair Removal and Genital Self-Image.’ Genital self-image? My generation never gave that a second thought. 

Megan Andelloux, one of the

'professors' at Sex Week

And before you jump to the conclusion that I’m some prudish dinosaur, I have a smokin’-hot wife (still on my first) and three boys so I’ll put my credentials up against any of these ‘professors’ teaching these classes. It’s not about sex, per se, it’s about what’s appropriate for kids, some of whom were going to their first dance just last year. One class asked this question: ‘Looking for a more perfect union of you and your partner’s desires?’ Then it gets more explicit from there, encouraging college kids to express what turns them on in the bedroom to their partners. Why are we encouraging people with no jobs and their whole lives ahead of them to have sex and maybe start out their working lives with a little bambino? Oh, that’s right, these same ‘professors’ probably have the local abortion clinic on speed dial.

‘What if you could make a job out of studying sex?’ one class asks. It then goes on to extoll the virtues of being a condom-tester or doing research on the ‘hook-up culture.’ Yet another class was about sexual fantasies. ‘What gets you off?’ the syllabus asked. And what sex week would be complete without a class titled, ‘Batteries Not Included.’ I’m sure you can figure out what that one’s all about. And just to throw a bone to anyone who might object to all this madness, there was a class on abstinence. 

Sex Week at UT concluded with ‘the most popular event at Sex Week,’ a drag show. Not sure what guys dressing up as women has to do with sex. Maybe it doubles your chances of getting a date.

My question is, how much of our tax and/or tuition dollars went into this event? And why did our tax and/or tuition dollars go into this event? I get a sneaking suspicion that some of these so-called ‘professors’ might be using this as an opportunity to hook up with college kids.

I tweeted my outrage about the event and lo and behold the organizers blocked me from reading their tweets on Twitter. I didn’t even know you could do that! Shows you how open they are to outside prying eyes. Not too mention how adult they are.

Sex Week is part of a growing trend at UT. In case you didn’t know, all incoming freshmen and transfer students are required to go through a global warming indoctrination class. Required! It’s not that I oppose my kids being taught this rot gut. I just think there should be a little balance. Especially since I’m paying an arm and a leg to send two kids there. Again, I guess they’re trying to be Ivy League. Missed it by that much.

Google Sex Week UTK and take a look around. I think you’ll agree there doesn’t need to be a Sex Week 2016.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.