If we could pinpoint the growing police state to one agency, how easy it would be to solve the nationwide problem. Likewise, were there just one agency seizing private property and assets from American citizens, how easy it would be to bring them back into line with integrity and honesty in carrying out their duties to the people.

THE CALIFORNIA CONTROLLER'S OFFICE:

        As recent as June of 2007 with State Controller, John Chiang in command; the State Controller's office has been accused of seizing private assets illegally. On June 1st, 2007 U.S. District Court Judge William B Shubb ordered an end to unconstitutional seizure of valuables like Grace Yang's criticizing the Controller's Office for not giving owners prior notice before snatching their cash and property; as has been alleged in several pending lawsuits.

        "It is clear from those cases," wrote Judge Shubb, "under the presently existing scheme, California does not give constitutionally adequate notice before acceting or taking title to property, or selling, or converting to cash or destroying property..."

        Once again the reader is facing the possibility of ignoring the seriousness of this situation because it appears to be just a few cases. However, the seizure of the Yang's property is but one of eight million cases in which the State of California has taken five billion dollars in assets under the unclaimed property law of 1959.

        Property let sitting inactive in any way is in danger of being seized by this predatory agency without any notice at all to its owners. And once they get their hands on it; the property is treated like a bone a dog has stolen away. If anyone approaches the State Controller's Office to retrieve their property, they are faced with a snarling dog. It doesn't take much imagination to visualize State Controller Office personnel taking a bite out of the assets seized since they come in in such variations, each case is individualized and made vulnerable.

        Let's consider the Yang's gold which was seized with their safety deposit box from CitiBank. Who had the inventory but the Yang's. The question of whether there was any gold in their safety deposit box suddenly became their word against the State Controller's Office.

        Americans have an innate trust for their government and their banking institutions that ought not to be. The presumption is that each government agency has a job to do and is doing it. The nation and the State is so vast it has become a camouflauge for diabolical schemes behind the scenes of normal government operations.

        There is only one way for the California legislature to cure this peculiar state of the art thieving at the State level and that is to totally take away the right of the State Controller's Office to seize anyone's dormant property. It may be necessary to invent an independent agency to handle this matter with detailed guidelines prioritizing the need to make sure the rightful owners of abandoned property and assets are located if possible before the State cashes the bonaza into its treasury.

        The State Controller's Office used to search for the rightful owners. They long ago discovered the fruit of the spoils can be carried home; so they do nothing at all.

        The policy at the State Controller's Office of holding a request for the return of property for twelve to eighteen months strongly suggests the thieves in the Controller's office are buying themselves time to get their hands on confiscated property. So they threaten callers saying, "If you persist in calling in you will only delay the process." In other words, Leave us alone so we can figure out how to defraud you of your property.

        When the 12 to 18 months is up, Ronald Repass of Rialto called to find out the status of $25,000 in stocks seized from his father's estate when he died. He was told the paperwork could not be found. This was no accident. Repass resubmitted the paperwork and two years later he has still not heard from them. Just as rats infest some restuarants where your food is prepared, so thieves infest some government agencies where your rights are supposedly protected.

        Likewise, the CitiBank appears to be in collusion with thieves in the State Controller's Office because they did not bother to notify the Yang's before turning their possessions over to the government.

        To show how this situation has further degenerated through the nearly five decades when the unclaimed property law was enacted, the dormant period in which an account legally is considered to be abandoned has been reduced from sixteen years to three years. Also the State once paid compound annual interest when rightful owners finally reclaimed their money. Today the State pays no interest. To make matters worse, the cost of retrieving any property or assets seized by the State Controller's Office or any other agency is so expensive in time and money many are forced to abandon their property (which makes the theives at the State Controller's Office look legitimate.)

        "I agree with the court ruling," New State Controller John Chiang said. He didn't argue, as attorneys representing the Controller's office have argued for years in court, that rightful owners should be notified only after the State acquires their assets."

        McClintock, who has been stymied in several attempts to pass legislation designed to overhaul the unclaimed property process, said the judge's order "couldn't have come soon enough."

        "I'm for going back to 1958, before the state started raiding people's bank accounts and safe deposit boxes," the senator said. "It's an old feudal concept that should have died with the Dark Ages.

        "At the very least, the state should have to locate owners before it starts liquidating private assets and shredding family heirlooms.

        "The state spent $100 million last year locating property to seize and $15,000 to locate the rightful owners."

        McClintock's hard work is appreciated, and Judge Shubb's intervention into this matter is also deeply appreciated. Californians can breath a sigh of fresh air momentarily; but a very corrupt agency remains in place in spite of it. Just saying the State Controller's Office should notify people before seizing their goods will degenerate rapidly into the same situation again. No government agency should be intrusted with the right to seize property and assets. Let abandoned goods find their own way back into the system. What we need in America is honest government.

        Mark my words. They'll behave themselves for six to twelve months, then illegal seizures will begin again. It's like a gross pollution car engine. It needs a major overhaul.

OTHER KINDS OF ILLEGAL SEIZURES:

        Instead of wearing the reader out with case after case, multiple government agencies are involved in seizing money, property and assets illegally in the name of the law.

        It is standard operating procedure now for law enforcement to seize private vehicles when they find more drugs on board than what is deemed ordinary stash.

        Imagine now if you will an innocent individual having his assets, his money, his transportation all seized in the name of the law before he is proved guilty. The resources he needed to prove his innocence are gone.

        Instead of being innocent til he is proved guilty, he is guilty til he proves himself innocent and finds himself locked up behind iron bars with his resources stolen.

        Many will say that is his tough luck, and that is just what the violating officers are counting on. What if you happen to give a ride to someone you know and are pulled over, only to find out he was transporting a million dollars worth of cocaine in the briefcase he was carrying.

        Constitutional law was written to protect against the presumptuousness of the arresting officers. Furthermore, dishonest officers know it ices the case if they can financially disarm those they have arrested from defending themselves. The arresting officers can come out smelling like roses while an innocent person is railroaded behind bars.

        The growing volume of government seizures is the accelerator of a Police State going into place. Government seizures need to be stopped. We are advised in the book of Wisdom, "When the righteous reign the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule the people mourn."