Feds: First, We Led Your Husband to Suicide. Now, We're Coming for Your Property

It's time for me to once again rail against the inhumane practice of civil forfeiture.  This time, the victim is a sympathetic one, and she may ultimately prevail.  But, the price she's already paid in her battle against Leviathan is heartbreaking.

Mara Lynn Williams is a 56-year-old cancer survivor.  She lost her husband, Royce, several months ago.  And now, she's battling to save her 40-acre hardscrabble farm in Chilton County, Alabama from seizure by government authorities.

You see, Royce smoked marijuana.  Not because he was trying to get high, but because it was the only substance that relieved his chronic pain after multiple surgeries.

However, in federal government's War on (Some) Drugs, persons who smoke marijuana for any reason are considered criminals.  And that's particularly true if they cultivate it, as Royce did on the couple's farm. 

Royce was growing an awfully large amount of pot for purely personal use.  When the feds raided the couple's property in 2008, they found 408 marijuana plants growing several hundred yards from the house.  Not surprisingly, they charged him with cultivating marijuana with the intent to sell it.

In May 2009, as a jury was deliberating the charges against Royce, he climbed into the family car and shot himself.  His death ended the criminal case, but prosecutors decided to try to seize the couple's property, even though they never accused Mara Lynn of any crime.  After all, as Asset Forfeiture Coordinator Tommie Brown Hardwick says, "The bottom line is, we don’t want people to benefit from criminal activity."

Let's count all the ways that Mara Lynn Williams has benefited—or not—from criminal activity. 

First, prosecutors never accused Royce—or Mara Lynn of actually selling marijuana.  They only accused Royce of cultivating it with the intent to sell it.  So, Mara Lynn didn't receive a penny in "criminal proceeds."

Second, during the raid on the couple's property, police seized firearms, $18,400 in cash, vehicles, computers and other personal belongings.  Mara Lynn got some of the vehicles back, but not the cash.  Far from benefiting from criminal activity, Mara Lynn is out $18,400.

Third, Mara Lynn has had to hire an attorney to represent her in the forfeiture case.  I'm not privy to the fee arrangements, but typically, attorneys defending civil forfeiture cases charge a retainer of $20,000 or more.

Thanks to a civil forfeiture reform law enacted in 2000, prosecutors will have to demonstrate that Mara Lynn knowingly participated in Royce's drug cultivation operation in order to seize her property.  Otherwise, she is considered an "innocent owner." 

In the meantime, Mara Lynn continues to work as a nurse at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery.  The government through its insane drug war has already taken her husband and $18,400 of the couple's savings.  Now it wants to make her homeless.  In the meantime, she's waiting for her cancer—now in remission—to return.

“It has been in remission before, so I know it will be back,“ she says.  And sadly, so will the forfeiture squads.

Copyright © 2009 by Mark Nestmann

Comments

[Pure Logic]

fight these unjust laws. regardless of reason what someone does in the privacy and "sanctity" of their own home is their business. prove he was selling it or leave the woman alone. look at groups like LEAP www.leap.cc and see how law enforcement officers feel about this.

[Alice Lillie]

This isn't a free country...it just isn't...