texas cops stop mostly non-whites, take their money, cars, jewelry, --kids also on the menu

This is insane. Tenaha, Texas, sports a busy highway leading to popular gambling establishments in Louisiana.

Realizing that perhaps people may be traveling with large amounts of cash, the town has decided to stop motorists {mostly black} passing through for ridiculous reasons, like driving on the white line. The cops then perform a search on both occupant and vehicle. Tehana officials believe if they find a substantial amount of cash, those in the car are guilty of laundering drug money, despite the fact no drugs are found.

At this point, police present folks with one of two choices.

waive their rights to their cash and property or face felony charges for crimes such as money laundering—and the prospect of having to hire a lawyer and return to Shelby County multiple times to attend court sessions to contest the charges.

It gets better. Here is Jennifer Boatright's story.

her husband and two young children—a mixed-race family—were traveling from Houston to visit relatives in east Texas in April 2007 when Tenaha police pulled them over, alleging that they were driving in a left-turn lane.

After searching the car, the officers discovered what Boatright said was a gift for her sister: a small, unused glass pipe made for smoking marijuana. Although they found no drugs or other contraband, the police seized $6,037 that Boatright said the family was carrying to purchase a used car—and then threatened to turn their children, ages 10 and 1, over to Child Protective Services if the couple didn't agree to sign over their right to their cash.

"It was give them the money or they were taking our kids," Boatright said. "They suggested that we never bring it up again. We figured we better give them our cash and get the hell out of there."

Several months later, after Boatright and her husband contacted an attorney, Tenaha officials returned their money but offered no explanation or apology. The couple remain plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit.

This nonsense is also going on near the Mexican border, where Hispanics say they are being targeted.

State Senator John Whitmire, introduced a bill in the state Legislature that would require police to go before a judge prior to seizing property under the asset-forfeiture law—and ultimately tighten the law further so that law-enforcement officials will be allowed to seize property only after a suspect is charged and convicted in a court.