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Seize This!
Steve Sebelius | Las Vegas City Life | 09/23/2005

Both the Las Vegas Sun and the Review-Journal jumped all over Dave Olsen, city attorney of sleepy Boulder City, when he filed a lawsuit to seize the home of Cynthia Warren.

Boulder City police, ably assisted by the SWAT team from nearby Henderson, stormed Warren's home in April to discover six marijuana plants and various and sundry marijuana-related paraphernalia inside. She was arrested, charged with several felonies, and ultimately pled no contest to possession of a controlled substance. But before she entered her plea, Olsen filed a lawsuit to seize her house, valued at around $400,000, contending it was part of the instrumentality of her crime.

"In the drug world, this thing is probably nothing. But in a town of 15,000 people where we have one or two children die every year because of controlled substances, it is a big deal to us," Olsen told the R-J. To the Sun, he added: "The best way to send a message to folks that drug distribution to young people won't be tolerated is to take away their house. This gets their attention. We're sending a message loud and clear that if you package and distribute drugs from your house, you lose your home. Hopefully, it will act as a deterrent."

And you know what? I agree with him, wholeheartedly. We must seize the property of those who put children in danger, and we must do it now.

So that's why we've got to immediately seize Dave Olsen's motorcycle.

You see, in 2004, Olsen pled no contest to drunken driving, a crime that surely has taken more lives than marijuana ever will. Anti-DUI advocates are fond of saying that, with a drunken driver at the controls, a vehicle is a weapon, surely one more dangerous than Cynthia Warren's house.

Call the Boulder City police, and get the Henderson SWAT team for backup. There could be a standoff.

The problem with Olsen is not just that he's a hypocrite -- although he surely is -- it's that he's also not telling the truth.

One or two children die in Boulder City every year because of controlled substances? That would mean, over the past decade, Boulder City has lost 10-20 kids to drugs. That's not even remotely true. Of the two kids Olsen cites who did die of drug overdoses, neither died from marijuana. In fact, in the most widely cited case of marijuana related deaths -- Jessica Williams -- a jury specifically found Williams was not under the influence of the drug when she fell asleep at the wheel, ran off the road and killed six teenagers doing community service work.

Olsen rails against Warren for drug distribution to kids -- but she was not convicted of selling marijuana, much less selling it to kids. In that, he's punishing her for a crime of which she's not been convicted, a violation of the U.S. Constitution and his own oath of office.

The system, such as it is, worked the way it was supposed to work: Police raided Warren's home, found drugs, and arrested her. Olsen asked for her to be charged with a variety of offenses, but a more -- ahem -- sober Clark County District Attorney's office elected to proceed only with a possession charge, which they disposed of with a plea bargain, a $500 fine and a 30-day suspended jail sentence.

Not content, however, Olsen proceeds to try to seize Warren's home in an entirely separate civil proceeding where she must prove her innocence, another constitutional violation. If Boulder City is successful, it will reap part of the windfall from the sale of Warren's home. Perhaps the city could hire Olsen a police driver, just to keep him out of trouble?

Outrage barely covers it: Regardless of what the law says, Olsen is engaging in an act of theft. Warren committed a crime, and was punished for committing a crime. Olsen's exacting a punishment for something Warren never did in the eyes of the law, making wild and untrue claims in the process. He should drop this case immediately, and if he doesn't, Boulder City fathers should find the courage to order him to stop.

In the meantime, will somebody look at seizing that motorcycle? I think we'd all feel safer if they did.

STEVE SEBELIUS IS EDITOR OF CITYLIFE. HE CAN BE REACHED AT 871-6780 EXT. 306 OR AT SSEBELIUS@LVCITYLIFE.COM.

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MrIMStoned

There seems to be alot of people in office with drunk driving charges. How does this happen people?

__________________
"In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable what then?"

Buzzby

Alcohol is the most frequently abused drug in our society. Alcohol abuse doesn't carry the stigma of abusing illicit drugs. It's "mainstream". Having a DUI on your record doesn't disqualify you from running for office and the public, apparently, doesn't think it's important enough to not vote for candidates with a drunk driving record.

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Abomonog

Federal law says you can run for ANY political office (Except for law enforcement offices) reguardless of your criminal record. Note the case of Mayor Barry (D.C.).
He returned to office despite his felony crack possession conviction, which he was arrested for while serving as Mayor. There are a suprisingly large amount of felons serving in political office today. It's the ones with the records that make good press that don't have a chance, but if you did a year probation for fudging your bank statement to the states tax assessor, the press most likely will not care.

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It's all fun and games until the flying monkeys attack!

Stephanie S.

Meh...except for our President.

This Article on the same case sheds a bit more light on the woman arrested. It's a bit more descriptive and for some reason leads me to be a little less sympathetic to her criminal case.

However, I detest Property Seizure laws and strongly believe that the rules for confiscation of property need to be seriously altered.


peace

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"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." —George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005 (Listen to audio)

 

freethemind

Lets keep the kids safe. alcohol is the # 1 drug in this here land it kills and
will take apart a faimly so Dave Olsen needs to have all his cars trucks and
motercycles and anything else that he can drive taken away from him.

troublemaker_42

Having an alcohol problem myself, I agree wholeheartedly that alcohol is far more of a danger to teens, and to society in general, than marijuana could ever dream of being. I'm absolutely sick of going through the required drug/alcohol assessment process (a requiremtn for a DUI, which I have recently acquired) and suddenly, whenI mention I also smoke marijuana, the focus suddenly shifting to my "drug problem". Its redicuous, and I'm fed up with it. My "drug problem" didn't lead to my arrest, my drinking problem, which is very real, did. I don't need "help" with my non existent "drug" problem. I was diagnosed, not only with a drinking problem, but with "cannabis dependence". Their reasoning? I smoked more pot later in life than i did my fisrt time. By their logic, because I smoked a bowl my first time, and later started smoking a couple bowls in a session (regardless of how frequent or infrequent the sessions were) I showed tolerence to the drug, which automatically qualified me for "dependence" What kind of messed up logic is that? Why are we even discussing my marijuana use, whern it had absolutely no impact on how I can to be driving under the influence of alcohol? I want help for my drinking proble, and am enteringan outpatient treatment group as soon as there is an opening available. i just hope the fact I smoke pot (or did, as it may be....over a month susbtance free as of now)doesn't change their focus on what I NEED. The stigma is there, alive and well....alcohol use, or even abuse, is tolerated better than ANY use of ANY illegal susbtance, regardless of its relative safety.

Buzzby

I'm curious. Did you offer up the info that you were a smoker or did they do a UA (or something) and catch you? If you did offer it up, why?

troublemaker_42

No, I didn't get UA'd, but....I also got a possession charge, as I happeed to have about a bowls worth in a cellophane on me at the time of my arrest. Kee p in mind that it didn't play a role in my DUI however, as I hadn't smoked the night I was pulled over....

Stephanie S.

I probably won't make any friends with this remark but I think that people who drink and drive are stupid, heartless, assholes.

I think that people who get caught drinking and driving ought to face much more than DUI charges. When one knowingly does something that one knows could ultimately result in loss of life and/or limb, they should face the same kinds of charges a person would if they were say, brandishing a weapon.
Even better, I think it should be considered attempted murder.

Drinking and driving kills. Choosing to get behind the wheel of your car after you've been drinking is definitely one of the top 10 most asinine things a person can do.

Drinking problem, schminking problem. Stop f*cking getting drunk, how about that?


peace