The FBI’s justification for the dragnet forfeiture was its presumption that hundreds of unknown box holders were all storing assets somehow tied to unknown crimes, court records show.
I can imagine something like this being applied to self custody in the future... Fun times ahead.
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So basically the FBI is a criminal organization that pulled off a heist that netted tens of millions of dollars.
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It sounds like a case of the government trying to uncover crimes with reasonable suspicion but were unable to collect evidence to show probable cause. This is more a case of bureaucratic incompetence than overreach, though it is certainly overreach and stealing from the innocent alongside the potentially guilty. Search warrants should never be issued only under reasonable suspicion.
In this case, the agents were observing drug dealers and known criminals using this vault but they didn't know exactly what for. Its reasonable to suspect there are illegal items in that vault, but they don't have probable cause because they haven't demonstrated what was there and from whom. Their chosen procedure to look at each and every deposit box and confiscate all of it is a blatant violation of the 4th amendment, claiming anyone that uses this vault is potentially guilty by association. The judge should have known better than to allow this, and its unconscionable for the agency to refuse to return the stolen goods and also to cover up the rights violations.
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