When Law Enforcement Breaks the Law: Two Cases in Utah, 2017

Fall leaves on the Grotto Trail

Two items I found interesting hit the news recently. The first thing that caught my eye was a blog post from the Libertas Institute entitled "Hate civil asset forfeiture? Here's a court case in Utah to follow...". Now, I do hate Civil Asset Forfeiture, so this really caught my eye and it was sufficient in and of itself to prompt me to start writing. However, I then noticed a story posted about the firing of detective Jeff Payne, who had been put in the public eye for having arrested nurse Alex Wubbels for having refused to comply with his illegal demands for a blood sample from an unconscious patient. It makes for a week of news highlighting why we should be wary of police power in our modern society.

The Libertas Institute's blog post detailed the case of one Kyle Savely who had some bundles of cash in his possession confiscated by the Utah Highway Patrol. Under Utah law,  prosecutors have 75 days to file forfeiture paperwork or they have to return the money. Unfortunately for Mr. Savely, the law enforcement officers who had control of his cash didn't pay much heed to this law, and they didn't return the money. So, Mr. Savely filed a petition to get the money returned and was told that it was too late. The DEA had asked for the money, and the Utah Department of Public Safety had given it to them, despite Utah law clearly forbidding them to do so without court permission, which they didn't bother to get.

Now, theft, in my books, is taking something that is not rightfully yours, so in my books, police taking someone's property involuntarily, without an actual debt or adjudicated guilt for a crime, is theft. The long and short of it is that civil asset forfeiture is theft. Hence, the boys in blue have been in the business of stealing in order to fund their operations, like any good racketeer would do. In some places this has gotten extremely brazen.

In Utah, many people have been justly upset by the practice and laws have been put in place to curb the malignancy of civil asset forfeiture.

The thing that is interesting about Mr. Savely's case is that we can see that powerful elements within the law enforcement community have conspired to continue to engage in theft even without the color of law. (And the Utah Attorney General is not only complicit, but has been a key player in promoting this abusive practice.)

This is unfortunate, because a police force is one of society's great benefits. To deter and punish crime, uphold the principles of justice and order, and execute just laws is a thing that should be very dear to us. Unfortunately, when the police engage in theft, they fundamentally undermine the law and order that they should be upholding.

The case of Jeff Payne arresting Alex Wubbels highlights similar issues. Fortunately, in this case, Jeff was fired. (Though, he is appealing that decision.) This should give us some comfort, but the fear is that officials are only protecting the public from this man because of the public outcry.

We need to feel assured that our governors, mayors, police chiefs, judges, etc., will protect us from the abusive behavior that hasn't been raised to such a level of public awareness. I am also concerned that I have not heard news of this man being charged with assault. A badge is not a license to assault and abuse people. However, if he is not treated by the legal system in a way equal to that of other citizens, then we have equal protection problems, and the badge does become a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card. It has seemed, for a long time, that this is what a badge is, creating a protected class that enforces the law without having to feel the full burden of its injustices. This is good for nobody.

Many attempts were made to justify detective Payne's actions, but all the over-complicated distraction has fallen flat. He absolutely did not have authority to make his request, and he absolutely did not have justification for arresting the nurse who refused the request. At the end of the day, these are the legal and moral facts that show detective Payne to be worthy of being brought up on charges. If we think he is a good man, who needs a second chance, then give him a plea in abeyance, or whatever standard leniency might be common to encourage him to correct the behavior, but the legal system should not just ignore this.

The disturbing thing is that all too often, the police are breaking the law and even worse, violating our rights, and that, without a large public outcry, people like Mr. Savely or you, or me, could be the victims of this abuse. But, we keep electing people like Sean Reyes, who make it clear that they would prefer to police without our civil rights. What can we expect? The culture of corruption flows from the top.