Thread: The Supreme Court is hearing a big case tomorrow. It should unite everyone: left, right & center. And the national press has almost totally ignored it.
It centers on an elderly woman who fell behind on her taxes. So the county took her home, sold it, and kept the profit.
Her name is Geraldine Tyler. After falling $2,300 behind on her property taxes, the county added $13,000 in penalties, interests & fees.
When she couldn't pay, they seized her condo—valued at $93,000—sold it for $40,000, and kept the leftover $25,000. reason.com/2023/04/25/rob…
The Supreme Court will decide if that's constitutional. It sounds like an easy case. But it has not been.
Multiple federal courts ruled against Geraldine, and said the government did nothing wrong by stealing her equity after it satisfied her debt. reason.com/2022/03/11/a-9…
Geraldine is far from the only victim. The stories are nauseating.
At 76 years old, Bennie Coleman lost his DC home over a $134 bill. The gov't sold the $197,000 house & kept the profit.
For months, Bennie slept on the porch—with dementia—thinking he'd locked himself out.
Then there's Tawanda Hall, who fell $900 behind on a property-tax payment plan for her Michigan home. After penalties, she owed $22,642.
The gov't seized her $300,000 house, sold it, and kept the profit.
Let me put this in perspective. In Michigan, defendants found guilty of stealing over $20,000 face a decade in prison.
When the government stole *10 times* that—leaving a mom and her kids completely bankrupt—it was all in a day's work.
Make it make sense.
This preys on the most vulnerable. And the gov't has gotten away with it, bc people don't know it's happening.
Well, people need to know. Because if it can happen to them, it can happen to you. SCOTUS should call it what it is: theft, plain & simple. /end reason.com/2023/04/25/rob…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
This is Sylvia Gonzalez. At age 72, she won an upset victory for city council after campaigning to oust the city manager. The mayor didn't like that.
So he had her arrested & jailed.
The Supreme Court is about to hear her case, which has largely gone unnoticed. A thread.
In 2019, Sylvia began her tenure on city council with what she'd promised constituents: a citizen-backed petition calling for the city manager's removal.
So the mayor, Edward Trevino, responded by setting in motion a monthslong *criminal* investigation. But that's not all. /2
Since Sylvia hadn't done anything wrong, the mayor needed help. So he hired...a special detective.
The state then charged her with violating an obscure law that makes it a crime to conceal a government record.
But Sylvia hadn't done that. So how'd they arrest her? Well... /3
It should be a scandal that in 2024 federal police can *still* seize your life savings & leave you destitute without even charging you with a crime. But lawmakers can come together in 30 seconds to vote on possibly banning TikTok, because culture war. I find it deeply depressing.
I'm talking, of course, about civil forfeiture, which lets law enforcement take your assets if they merely *suspect* you of a crime. Many lawmakers claim to oppose it. Yet nothing changes.
Which is a shame, because it's ruined innocent people's lives. Let's talk about them. /2
This is Carl & Amy Nelson. In 2020, the FBI seized almost $1 million from them.
They had to sell their house & car, liquidate their retirement, and move with their 4 daughters into Amy's sister's basement.
This story will fly under the radar. It shouldn't.
Houston tried to prosecute a woman for helping the homeless. And the state couldn't even impanel a jury, because the bulk of potential jurors saw the case for the insanity that it is.
This is Amy Hadley & her kids, Kayla & Noah. In June 2022, police tossed dozens of tear gas bombs into their home, smashed windows, punched holes in the wall & more.
A cop's error led them to Amy's home. She hadn't committed a crime.
The gov't won't pay her back. A thread.
A year and a half ago, police in Indiana were trying to locate a fugitive. One officer tried to find him via Facebook, concluding that the suspect was accessing social media from Amy's IP address.
This is LaShawn Craig. He faces years in prison after he shot a masked man who had broken into his home.
What's rich: New York prosecutors agree it was self-defense.
They're trying to lock him up anyway. He's not the first. A thread.
Last month, Craig was standing outside his NYC home when he heard his alarm go off. He entered his residence, where he saw a masked intruder, who reached for something in his pocket. Craig fired his gun.
The homicide was labeled justified.
And yet... /2
...Prosecutors still filed several charges against him.
Why? Because the gun Craig had—which the state says he justifiably used to protect his life—was...unlicensed.