I'm sure there are many factors you could point to that put our nation on the wrong path, but today I'd like to focus specifically on the judicial system.

Policing for profit is probably the biggest issue I have with law enforcement. This practice comes from a ridiculous law called civil asset forfeiture. This unconstitutional law allows police to seize assets without any due process, all they need to do is claim they feel the assets are being used for illegal activity. Your property can be indefinitely seized for nothing more than vague suspicions. Even worse, the department that seizes the assets keeps them for itself, providing even more motivation to seize people's property without cause.

Now, departments depend on this shady practice to fund their departments. Some counties in Texas have 40% of their law enforcement funding coming from asset forfeiture. This makes this bogus law hard to repeal, as many municipalities have become dependent on this ill gotten booty.

Asset forfeiture isn't the only way cops police for profit, although it's the most blatant. They also serve citations for victimless crimes:

Prostitution

Drug use

Traffic citations

Public drunkenness

Gambling

These are just some examples. The cities and municipalities that rely on cops to generate revenue are the real problem. Sure, a cop may be a complacent participant in this scheme, but our own elected officials allowed this to happen in the first place. I'd rather our communities would employ peace officers instead of revenue rangers. A cop with a radar gun on the side of the road might generate revenue, but he's not helping anyone with a real emergency. We've basically turned LEOs into an extortion arm of whatever city or municipality employs them, and it's a damn shame.

Let's not forget the other extortion racket we call courts. There are usually no constitutional judges presiding over these courts, but rather executive administrators, which can't possibly give you a fair trial, because guess where their money comes from. How can we have an honest and fair court when the "judge" and prosecutor and even your public defender (all members of the same club known as the BAR association) all eat their slop from the same trough?

Civil Asset Forfeiture