May 22, 2012, 8:21 am
One of the worst outcomes of the war on drugs has been civil forfeiture laws, which basically allow police to take your property and keep the proceeds, forcing the burden of proof onto you to prove that the property is not a result of or facilitator to criminal activity. It is beyond me how such laws continue to be considered Constitutional, but the unfortunately the same justices that tend to protect property rights are the same one that seem to have an even stronger law and order streak.
Anyway, its good to be reminded just how awful these laws are, and Hit and Run has several recent examples here.
Update: Walter Olson has several more.
May 22, 2012, 7:28 am
George Lucas is tired of fighting Marin County over developing his land there for business use. This may be unfair, because I don't really know much about George Lucas's politics, but my bet is that he is a typical wealthy liberal who supported all these sorts of restrictions on everyone else, until they applied to him. Anyway, he is pushing a new plan, one sure to highlight the absolute hypocrisy of more-liberal-than-thou Marin County residents (NYT via Reason)
Mr. Lucas said he would sell the land to a developer to bring "low income housing" here.
"It's inciting class warfare," said Carolyn Lenert, head of the North San Rafael Coalition of Residents.
Mr. Lucas said in an e-mail that he only wanted "to do something good for Marin," waving away accusations of ulterior motives.
"I've been surprised to see some people characterize this as vindictive," he said, adding that there was a "real need" for affordable housing here. "I wouldn't waste my time or money just to try and upset the neighbors."
Whatever Mr. Lucas's intentions, his announcement has unsettled a county whose famously liberal politics often sits uncomfortably with the issue of low-cost housing and where battles have been fought over such construction before.
My son had a brush with Lucas-inspired state authority last week:
