We're entering the home stretch of the 2017 Oklahoma Legislative session. As a result, Oklahoma lawmakers are hard at work putting the finishing touches on ridiculous legislation that solves nothing, wastes time and continues the proud OK GOP tradition of embarrassing our state on the national level.
For example, Oklahoma State Rep / Flowmax spokesperson Bobby Cleveland recently announced his plan to introduce legislation that will divert money collected from civil asset forfeiture seizures to help pay for construction of Trump's terrific border wall, because you know, that will help us solve that $800-million budget crisis that's crippling our state.
Check out this crazy shit:
State Rep. Bobby Cleveland announced today he plans to author an amendment diverting money from civil asset forfeiture seizures to help pay for construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
Under Oklahoma’s current civil asset forfeiture laws, law enforcement can seize property suspected of criminal activity. If the original owner cannot prove the money’s innocence, that money often stays with the seizing agency and is used to supplement the department’s funds.
“This money is drug money,” said Cleveland, R-Slaughterville. “The vast majority of it is either coming from Mexico or headed there. By redirecting this cash to construction efforts, Mexico will be paying for the wall just as promised.”...
“It’s high time we crack down on the Mexican drug cartels. For too long, we’ve put this on the backburner. This amendment will make Oklahoma – and our country – safer,” Cleveland said.
Okay, I know this doesn't go along with Cleveland's goal of pandering to the alt-right racist ideologues who elected him and our president into office, but instead of using the unethically seized civil asset forfeiture money to help build a wall that won't keep drugs out of our country, perhaps we should invest the funds into drug and addiction treatment programs that will help rehabilitate addicts and keep them from buying drugs? Yeah, I know that's a compassionate, practical, non-racist solution to a real world problem, but I'm just throwing it out there.
