Federal judge: Prosecutors’ attempt to secretly seize $13 million was ‘constitutionally abhorrent’

 From Balko...

For your “I can’t believe this stuff happens in America” files:
Calling their conduct “constitutionally abhorrent,” a federal judge recently chided government prosecutors for working in secret to keep millions of dollars in cash and assets seized from a Las Vegas gambler and his family in a decadelong bookmaking investigation.
In his 31-page opinion, U.S. Magistrate Judge Cam Ferenbach cast light on the little-known court process that allowed the government to file civil forfeiture actions against Glen Cobb, his 82-year-old parents and his stepdaughter under “super seal” with no notice to anyone — not even the family it targeted.
Government documents filed under super seal, a procedure overseen by the federal clerk’s office, are stored in the court’s vault and not loaded into the electronic case management system. The documents remain secret from the public and opposing parties.
Ferenbach said prosecutors sought a level of secrecy normally reserved for cases that threaten public safety or national security.

“This is unacceptable,” Ferenbach wrote in court papers only recently made public. “Relying on various sealed and super-sealed filings, the government asks the court to rule against private citizens, allow the deprivation of their property and deny them a process to redress possible violations of their constitutional rights through a secret government action that provides no notice or opportunity to be heard.
“Saying that this would offend the Constitution is an understatement. It is constitutionally abhorrent.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/10/21/federal-judge-prosecutors-attempt-to-secretly-seize-13-million-was-constitutionally-abhorrent/