Tenaha, TX

And you wonder why Texas has a bad name?


Highway robbery? Texas police seize black motorists' cash, cars

Suit says cops force motorists, largely black, to forfeit cash and cars—or be charged with trumped-up crimes

By Howard Witt | Tribune correspondent
March 10, 2009


TENAHA, Texas— You can drive into this dusty fleck of a town near the Texas-Louisiana border if you're African-American, but you might not be able to drive out of it—at least not with your car, your cash, your jewelry or other valuables.

That's because the police here allegedly have found a way to strip motorists, many of them black, of their property without ever charging them with a crime. Instead they offer out-of-towners a grim choice: voluntarily sign over your belongings to the town, or face felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes.

More than 140 people reluctantly accepted that deal from June 2006 to June 2008, according to court records. Among them were a black grandmother from Akron, who surrendered $4,000 in cash after Tenaha police pulled her over, and an interracial couple from Houston, who gave up more than $6,000 after police threatened to seize their children and put them into foster care, the court documents show. Neither the grandmother nor the couple were charged with any crime.

Officials in Tenaha, situated along a heavily traveled highway connecting Houston with popular gambling destinations in Louisiana, say they are engaged in a battle against drug trafficking and call the search-and-seizure practice a legitimate use of the state's asset-forfeiture law. That law permits local police agencies to keep drug money and other property used in the commission of a crime and add the proceeds to their budgets.

more...

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/chi-texas-profiling_wittmar10,0,2996775.story

just did a 15-minute profile on this town and the illegalities involved.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/05/texas.police.seizures/
Texas police shake down drivers, lawsuit claims

Texas is so backasswards. These guys are no better than the high seas pirates. In fact they're worse because they do it under the "protection" of the badge.

Disgusting. :puke:


Sonia

see cnn covering this; it was and is a travesty, and it could have happened in many states.

I KNOW our country can do better than this.

added... I just did a Google news search and so far there are no other news stories about this.

I've read pretty much the same story in different places - guess its just finally hit the MSM. While I'm not at all surprised that some Bubbas in a tiny redneck town can pull this kind of shit, I know that historically, it's been going on all over the south for a while. Maybe not so much lately, but in Jim Crow years...?

We need to hold these people accountable. This kind of stuff doesn't fly anywhere, and I hope to hell we're going to make an example of them for shaming Texas. I'm crossing my fingers that the ACLU gets involved and drags these bastards into the sun. In the meantime, y'all stay out of Tenaha.

I remember a while back when you'd hear people say to avoid certain podunk towns in Texas (unfortunately, there are still quite a few).

Senator Whitmire attached an amendment to the cockfighting bill.



Whitmire's bill SB1529 died on the House side in the photo ID blood bath. It had already passed the Senate but never made it to the House floor for a vote.

From the SB 1529 bill analysis:


I think the highway robbery scam in Tenaha is over.

:applause:


Sonia