http://www.newstrib.com/free/class-...cle_aee64d16-4c4f-11e7-912e-17c966dc14d5.html
Finally!
He who laughs last!!
Finally!
He who laughs last!!
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Class action filed against SAFE taskforce!
- Thread starter gh0stm0de
- Start date
Calling it a “vigilante police force,” two people once detained by the La Salle County State’s Attorney Felony Enforcement Team have launched a class action lawsuit against the disbanded drug unit.
The lawsuit was filed June 2 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, based in Chicago.
“The SAFE unit arrested dozens of people and confiscated large amounts of money from out-of-state drivers without sufficient justification,” Chicago attorney Edward Wallace and Lake Bluff attorney Jack Boehm wrote in the 20-page complaint. “(The SAFE Team) even confiscated money from drivers who committed no crimes and were not arrested after the SAFE unit’s traffic stops.”
Wallace and Boehm further alleged the confiscated cash and assets were misused and misspent.
For now, there are just two named plaintiffs, though by definition a class action opens the doors for others to join the lawsuit.
One plaintiff is Jeffrey Straker, a Chicago man currently on work release after serving part of a 6-year sentence for a cannabis conviction. The second is Alyssa Larson, a Connecticut woman who said she was detained (and released without charges) while visiting La Salle County to challenge the 2012 impoundment of her mother’s car.
The case is not yet officially a class action. That requires a judge’s approval and a decision could be weeks or months in the making.
Boehm said this morning that he and Wallace have been contacted by others interested in join-ing the case as it progresses into a court-approved class action.
“We think that the class has in excess of 1,000 individuals,” Boehm said.
The list of defendants could grow, too. For now, only La Salle County and former state’s attorney and SAFE Team founder Brian Towne are named as defendants — but the complaint was worded to include “John Does” who could be added later.
Court dates are pending. The case is assigned to Judge Amy St. Eve in Chicago.
Towne could not be immediately reached for comment.
La Salle County State’s Attorney’s Office directed the case to outside council, which it does whenever the county faces a federal lawsuit.
Chicago Attorney Kevin Casey, who represents the county in this matter, said he and his office would “vigorously defend the county” against a class action.
What happens in Chicago might hinge, directly or indirectly, on what happens first in Spring-field. A ruling on whether the SAFE Team was legally created and operated is pending from the Illinois Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in January.
The coming ruling from Springfield could support the plaintiffs’ case the unit was founded illegally, or it could insulate Towne, La Salle County and its taxpayers from a potentially catastrophic a jury award.
The lawsuit was filed June 2 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, based in Chicago.
“The SAFE unit arrested dozens of people and confiscated large amounts of money from out-of-state drivers without sufficient justification,” Chicago attorney Edward Wallace and Lake Bluff attorney Jack Boehm wrote in the 20-page complaint. “(The SAFE Team) even confiscated money from drivers who committed no crimes and were not arrested after the SAFE unit’s traffic stops.”
Wallace and Boehm further alleged the confiscated cash and assets were misused and misspent.
For now, there are just two named plaintiffs, though by definition a class action opens the doors for others to join the lawsuit.
One plaintiff is Jeffrey Straker, a Chicago man currently on work release after serving part of a 6-year sentence for a cannabis conviction. The second is Alyssa Larson, a Connecticut woman who said she was detained (and released without charges) while visiting La Salle County to challenge the 2012 impoundment of her mother’s car.
The case is not yet officially a class action. That requires a judge’s approval and a decision could be weeks or months in the making.
Boehm said this morning that he and Wallace have been contacted by others interested in join-ing the case as it progresses into a court-approved class action.
“We think that the class has in excess of 1,000 individuals,” Boehm said.
The list of defendants could grow, too. For now, only La Salle County and former state’s attorney and SAFE Team founder Brian Towne are named as defendants — but the complaint was worded to include “John Does” who could be added later.
Court dates are pending. The case is assigned to Judge Amy St. Eve in Chicago.
Towne could not be immediately reached for comment.
La Salle County State’s Attorney’s Office directed the case to outside council, which it does whenever the county faces a federal lawsuit.
Chicago Attorney Kevin Casey, who represents the county in this matter, said he and his office would “vigorously defend the county” against a class action.
What happens in Chicago might hinge, directly or indirectly, on what happens first in Spring-field. A ruling on whether the SAFE Team was legally created and operated is pending from the Illinois Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in January.
The coming ruling from Springfield could support the plaintiffs’ case the unit was founded illegally, or it could insulate Towne, La Salle County and its taxpayers from a potentially catastrophic a jury award.
These assclowns were rolling people for their plates. Classic and common practice, id never roll out on cali plates if i were you..
Cmon supreme court, everything is riding on cara ringlands case now. Appellate and circuit threw her case out and called taskforce illegal. Now in supreme court they introduced new argument claimong their men were affecting citizens arrests lol. Fuggin jokers.
Either way this will set a precedent; dont tread on me, or highway bandits roam free
Cmon supreme court, everything is riding on cara ringlands case now. Appellate and circuit threw her case out and called taskforce illegal. Now in supreme court they introduced new argument claimong their men were affecting citizens arrests lol. Fuggin jokers.
Either way this will set a precedent; dont tread on me, or highway bandits roam free
I went cross-country with Cali plates at least 2timez a year for years...just have to know what your doing....yeehaw
I live the next county over .the whole Tricounty does this shit.we are VERY currupt.don't drive dirty with out of state plates here
St. Phatty
Active member
In 2014 or 2015, US cops seized more via Asset Forfeiture - usually of the nickel & dime harassment of innocent Americans - than Americans lost to Burglary.
Sounds like a Civil War to me.
Sounds like a Civil War to me.
Dont kid yourself trout. People do it all the time and have been for years... but if you think youre not sitting at the craps table, then you just havent been playing long enough to hit snake eyes. Dont care how good you are, you cant hide your plates. Get rolled, have any background, they were taking cars to their hq o tear apart without probable cause.
Great news today!!
Supreme court has come back today with a ruling against La Salle county states attorney Brian Towne and his cronies on the illegal States Attorney Felony Enforcement.
Cara Ringland gets to walk free after getting popped with 160 pounds in a uhaul i know it wasnt hers but that girl deserves to be a legend!! She kept it solid and didnt tell on the people she cared about and helped break open the gate.
People are going to be freed from prison behind this ruling!!!
Wooohoooo mother fuckin SNAKES abusing power
Hahaaaaaaaa yyyyyeah!!
Supreme court has come back today with a ruling against La Salle county states attorney Brian Towne and his cronies on the illegal States Attorney Felony Enforcement.
Cara Ringland gets to walk free after getting popped with 160 pounds in a uhaul i know it wasnt hers but that girl deserves to be a legend!! She kept it solid and didnt tell on the people she cared about and helped break open the gate.
People are going to be freed from prison behind this ruling!!!
Wooohoooo mother fuckin SNAKES abusing power
Hahaaaaaaaa yyyyyeah!!
http://www.mintpressnews.com/court-illinois-prosecutors-vigilante-police-illegal/229388/
Court Rules Illinois Prosecutor’s Vigilante Police Force Illegal
By Lorraine Bailey | July 3, 2017
The Illinois Supreme Court vacated a woman’s drug-trafficking conviction, ruling that a police unit operated by an Illinois county state’s attorney’s office, independent from the county’s regular police force, had no authority to make traffic stops.
In 2011, former LaSalle County State’s Attorney Brian Towne formed a police force separate from the county’s police force called the State’s Attorney Felony Enforcement, or SAFE, unit.
SAFE officers were tasked with drug interdiction along interstate highways passing through LaSalle County, just west of Chicago, particularly along I-80, which is the fastest way to get from northern California to Chicago and the big cities of the eastern seaboard.
They arrested dozens of people, and confiscated $1.7 million from drivers before the program was suspended in 2015, according to court records.
Towne’s authority to operate an independent police force became highly controversial, as did his spending of $100,000 of the money collected by the civil forfeitures to fund his own travel to law enforcement conferences, including a $17,000 per diem award for travel expenses.
Cara Ringland was stopped by a SAFE officer because one of her U-Haul’s mud flaps was more than 12 inches off the ground and the officer found it unusual for a woman to be driving a U-Haul alone. A drug dog found 100 pounds of marijuana packed in the back of the van.
She was convicted of drug trafficking, but an Illinois appeals court vacated the charges against her based on its finding that SAFE personnel had no authority to arrest her.
The Illinois Supreme Court upheld that decision Thursday, vacating not only Ringland’s convictions but also those of four men separately charged with felony drug offences in La Salle County. Each defendant was found in possession of a controlled substance after being pulled over by a special investigator with the SAFE unit.
“We hold that the State’s Attorney’s common-law duty to investigate suspected illegal activity did not apply to Towne because he made no showing that law enforcement agencies inadequately dealt with such investigation or that any law enforcement agency asked him for assistance,” Justice Charles Freeman said, writing for the court’s 5-2 majority. “Absent this duty, the conduct of the SAFE unit fell outside of the scope of section 3-9005(b).”
The court voiced concern that the state’s reading of the law would allow the formation of 102 additional police forces in Illinois, each directed by the state’s attorney’s office.
“To construe section 3-9005(b) as the State urges would promote confusion between the distinct functions of general law enforcement and assisting a State’s Attorney in the performance of his or her duties,” Freeman said.
Two justices dissented from the majority opinion.
“There is no support in our common law for restraining the common-law duties of the State’s Attorney based on different types of investigations,” Chief Judge Rita Garman said in the dissent. “Nor is there any support in section 3-9005(b), which spells out the powers of special investigators, for limiting the exercise of peace officer powers based on the request or failure of other agencies.”
The state high court’s decision opens the door for more drivers arrested by SAFE officers to sue.
Alyssa Larson and Jeffrey Straker did just that last month, filing a class action in Chicago federal court against LaSalle County, Towne and John Doe SAFE officers, alleging Towne’s “vigilante police force” violated their civil rights.
Court Rules Illinois Prosecutor’s Vigilante Police Force Illegal
By Lorraine Bailey | July 3, 2017
The Illinois Supreme Court vacated a woman’s drug-trafficking conviction, ruling that a police unit operated by an Illinois county state’s attorney’s office, independent from the county’s regular police force, had no authority to make traffic stops.
In 2011, former LaSalle County State’s Attorney Brian Towne formed a police force separate from the county’s police force called the State’s Attorney Felony Enforcement, or SAFE, unit.
SAFE officers were tasked with drug interdiction along interstate highways passing through LaSalle County, just west of Chicago, particularly along I-80, which is the fastest way to get from northern California to Chicago and the big cities of the eastern seaboard.
They arrested dozens of people, and confiscated $1.7 million from drivers before the program was suspended in 2015, according to court records.
Towne’s authority to operate an independent police force became highly controversial, as did his spending of $100,000 of the money collected by the civil forfeitures to fund his own travel to law enforcement conferences, including a $17,000 per diem award for travel expenses.
Cara Ringland was stopped by a SAFE officer because one of her U-Haul’s mud flaps was more than 12 inches off the ground and the officer found it unusual for a woman to be driving a U-Haul alone. A drug dog found 100 pounds of marijuana packed in the back of the van.
She was convicted of drug trafficking, but an Illinois appeals court vacated the charges against her based on its finding that SAFE personnel had no authority to arrest her.
The Illinois Supreme Court upheld that decision Thursday, vacating not only Ringland’s convictions but also those of four men separately charged with felony drug offences in La Salle County. Each defendant was found in possession of a controlled substance after being pulled over by a special investigator with the SAFE unit.
“We hold that the State’s Attorney’s common-law duty to investigate suspected illegal activity did not apply to Towne because he made no showing that law enforcement agencies inadequately dealt with such investigation or that any law enforcement agency asked him for assistance,” Justice Charles Freeman said, writing for the court’s 5-2 majority. “Absent this duty, the conduct of the SAFE unit fell outside of the scope of section 3-9005(b).”
The court voiced concern that the state’s reading of the law would allow the formation of 102 additional police forces in Illinois, each directed by the state’s attorney’s office.
“To construe section 3-9005(b) as the State urges would promote confusion between the distinct functions of general law enforcement and assisting a State’s Attorney in the performance of his or her duties,” Freeman said.
Two justices dissented from the majority opinion.
“There is no support in our common law for restraining the common-law duties of the State’s Attorney based on different types of investigations,” Chief Judge Rita Garman said in the dissent. “Nor is there any support in section 3-9005(b), which spells out the powers of special investigators, for limiting the exercise of peace officer powers based on the request or failure of other agencies.”
The state high court’s decision opens the door for more drivers arrested by SAFE officers to sue.
Alyssa Larson and Jeffrey Straker did just that last month, filing a class action in Chicago federal court against LaSalle County, Towne and John Doe SAFE officers, alleging Towne’s “vigilante police force” violated their civil rights.
