X-Message-Number: 2326 Subject: CRYONICS - Arizona Political Climate From: (Edgar W. Swank) Date: Mon, 05 Jul 93 12:18:36 PDT In a recent CRYOMSG, an Alcorian says he is starting to investigate the political climate of Arizona, to see if it is any better than California's. Here is a relevant excerpt from "Ill-Gotten Gains", by Richard Miniter, published in the August/Sept 1993 issue of "Reason" magazine. "...Many prosecutors look to Arizona, which has the nation's strongest and broadest forfeiture laws. Unlike most states, Arizona does not give property owners a right to a jury trial. Just to file a forfeiture challenge, an owner must supply highly detailed information about the property's history. If he wins, he must pay his own legal fees; if he loses, he must pay the cost of the government's investigation and prosecution. "Arizona also allows seizure of property associated with 'racketeering,' which it defines very broadly. Under Arizona law (unlike the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), racketeering need not involve a pattern of activity or more than one offense. Just about any crime punishable by more than a year in prison, when committed for profit, qualifies. This includes not only biggies such as homicide, robbery, and kidnapping but also gambling, usury, drug offenses, weapons violations, obscenity, prostitution, restraint of trade, money laundering, and the sale of securities by unregistered brokers. ..." -- (Edgar W. Swank) SPECTROX SYSTEMS +1.408.252.1005 Cupertino, Ca Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=2326