Stupid Congress Tricks: anti-terror bills target cash
From one of the anti-terror bills said to be a sure bet to pass both chambers. Typos mine. --Declan --- If a financial institution... reports a suspicious transaction to a government agency the financial institution, director, officer, employee, or agent may not notify any person involved in that transaction that the transaction has been reported... Any financial institution that makes a voluntary disclosure of any possible violation of law or regulation to a government agency.... shall not be liable... for such disclosure or for any failure to provide notice of such disclosure to the person who is the subject of such disclosure... Whoever... knowingly conceals more than $10,000 in currency or other monetary instruments on his or her person... shall be guilty of a currency smuggling offense (and) shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years. A person asserting an innocent owner defense under section 983(d) to the forfeiture of curency... must... be a bona fide purchaser... and... establish that such person took all reasonable steps to determine the source of the currency, monetary instruments, or funds; or to verify that the currency, monetary instruments, or funds were not derived from illegal activity Upon a showing by the property owner by a preponderence of the evidence that the currency or monetary instruments involved in the offense giving rise to the forfeiture were derived from a legitimate source and were intended for a lawful purpose, the court shall reduce the forfeiture to the maximum amount that is not grossly disproportional to the gravity of the offense...
On Wed, 3 Oct 2001, Declan McCullagh wrote:
Whoever... knowingly conceals more than $10,000 in currency or other monetary instruments on his or her person... shall be guilty of a currency smuggling offense (and) shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years.
Wow! We *must* use the Comrade's bank, or we vill be berry berry zorry!
Upon a showing by the property owner by a preponderence of the evidence that the currency or monetary instruments involved in the offense giving rise to the forfeiture were derived from a legitimate source and were intended for a lawful purpose, the court shall reduce the forfeiture to the maximum amount that is not grossly disproportional to the gravity of the offense...
Your money was _legit_? Oh, no problem then! We just want a little something for our efforts. Not much, just "the maximum amount that is not grossly disproportional to the gravity of the offense (which you *would* have committed, if the money wasn't legit. But since your money *is* legit, you get off lightly, with a mere tap on the wallet, er, wrist. How about 30/70? I don't want to be unreasonable, after all, I have to justify this to the Colonel. Yes, yes, I know you appreciate this - just take your 30 percent, and don't let me catch you sneaking cash around again! -- Yours, J.A. Terranson sysadmin@mfn.org If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they should give serious consideration towards setting a better example: Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate... This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers, associates, or others. Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the first place... --------------------------------------------------------------------
Declan writes:
From one of the anti-terror bills said to be a sure bet to pass both chambers. Typos mine. --Declan
...
Whoever... knowingly conceals more than $10,000 in currency or other monetary instruments on his or her person... shall be guilty of a currency smuggling offense (and) shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years.
So I can now be arrested for carrying a concealed assault wallet? Does "monetary instruments" include travelers checks while you're on vacation? Oh, when will the silliness end. -- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"
participants (3)
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Declan McCullagh -
Eric Cordian -
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