Here is a nifty little town on the Texas Louisiana border located in Shelby County it's a quite and God fearing town. You can go to church in the First Methodist Church or the nearby Baptist Church. Founded as a shipping point on the Houston, East and West Texas Railway in 1885, the community was named for Tenehaw Municipality, the original name of Shelby County.
A post office was granted in 1886 and by 1890 the population was 200. By 1896 it was publishing it's own weekly newspaper and had become a major shipping center for lumber and produce. The population had increased to its current poulation of almost 1100.
Lumber-manufacturing and a large canning operation bolstered the local economy through the 40s and 50s. Toledo Bend Reservoir and the fishermen that it attracts are now a permanent economic mainstay. It sounds like a perfect example of what small town America should be like well it is unless of course your African American and driving thru it.
This town has the distinction of utilizing a state forfeiture regulation to seize property from unsuspecting motorists to raise revenue for the local police. What has happened to due process, well I guess the Constitution just didn't make to this little town. Here's the deal if your African American and your driving thru Tenaha then you get pulled over for things like doing 36 mph in a 35 mph zone. Then the police confiscate all your property and money and you have to sign a waiver saying its okay for them to do this or they charge you and throw you in jail.
Law enforcement authorities in Tenaha seized property from at least 140 motorists between 2006 and 2008, and, to date, filed criminal charges against fewer than half. Its being called " Good Policing, by the Town's Police Force who is Seizing Property from People Who are Never Charged."
A post office was granted in 1886 and by 1890 the population was 200. By 1896 it was publishing it's own weekly newspaper and had become a major shipping center for lumber and produce. The population had increased to its current poulation of almost 1100.
Lumber-manufacturing and a large canning operation bolstered the local economy through the 40s and 50s. Toledo Bend Reservoir and the fishermen that it attracts are now a permanent economic mainstay. It sounds like a perfect example of what small town America should be like well it is unless of course your African American and driving thru it.
This town has the distinction of utilizing a state forfeiture regulation to seize property from unsuspecting motorists to raise revenue for the local police. What has happened to due process, well I guess the Constitution just didn't make to this little town. Here's the deal if your African American and your driving thru Tenaha then you get pulled over for things like doing 36 mph in a 35 mph zone. Then the police confiscate all your property and money and you have to sign a waiver saying its okay for them to do this or they charge you and throw you in jail.
Law enforcement authorities in Tenaha seized property from at least 140 motorists between 2006 and 2008, and, to date, filed criminal charges against fewer than half. Its being called " Good Policing, by the Town's Police Force who is Seizing Property from People Who are Never Charged."
A Class Action Law Suit has been filed by 10 vitims of this little town justice is overdue.
Comments
white tenaha native
(Guest)
(Guest)
09/04/2009
well thats kinda hilarious considering two out of the three cops we have are black..
Steve
(Guest)
(Guest)
05/08/2009
Ok, someone help me understand how this works. Someone drives through Tenaha, and gets pulled over, and is found carrying a couple of grand. The police and the DA have them sign over a forfeiture paper and in return they are not charged with money-laundering.
Is anyone missing something here? Money-laundering is a CRIME!!! It requires an arrest and a trial! The money is still forfeit but you don't let the money-runner go, for crissakes!!!! If one of the big drug lords happened to be passing through Tenaha, and was just dumb enough to get pulled over , and found with a couple of mil on him, wouldn't he be arrested and turned over to the FBI on the spot?? Of course!!!
So why are none of these people been turned over to the FBI and questioned about their involvement in the drug trade? The answer is simple.....BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT MONEYLAUNDERERS!!!! And the police know it, too. THat's why they are targeting non-white people passing through that look like t
Thank you for the observation
Brian
(Guest)
(Guest)
05/06/2009
Who is your editor? Five mistakes in the first "sentence" alone. You are robbing me of my time, sir!
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