The new Pinal County sheriff and county attorney are said to be "cautious" about the use of RICO funds collected by the county. While campaigning for the job, Sheriff Lamb had criticized the former sheriff's handling of the funds, which is believed to have been a factor in Lamb's victory over the former sheriff's chosen successor.
If that's so, then it seems to me that Sheriff Lamb could afford to be a little less cautious and a little more righteous.
RICO laws have been a scandalous infringement of Americans' property rights ever since they were first cooked up in 1970 as a tactic in the misguided War on Drugs which has been a useless and expensive policy that has been a factor in our increasing national impoverishment.
Under the RICO laws, property may be seized by law enforcement officials if either they or an informant alleges that the owner violated a law. Nothing has to be proven in a court of law; an allegation or a suspicion is sufficient legal grounds for a RICO seizure. Since most people would agree that having your property seized is a form of punishment, it follows that RICO sanctions punishment without trial. Surely, this is a very serious regression in the quality of our justice system.
In the interests of justice, such laws ought to be repealed, or at least not enforced.
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