Pubdate: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Copyright: 2000 The Register-Guard Contact: PO Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188 Website: http://www.registerguard.com/ Author: Jerry Ritter OUTSIDE INFLUENCE HELPFUL Regarding the story "Outsiders Push Oregon Ballot Measures" (Register-Guard, July 30), it makes it sound as if this is a bad thing by its very nature. While it is true that outside influence can usurp some of our local control, this is not always to our detriment. I, for one, am grateful that New Yorker George Soros helped to fund the desperately needed initiative that would require police to return seized property unless the owners are convicted. Current forfeiture law is a perverse travesty of our justice system - and no, neither I nor any family member has ever fallen into its web. A person can lose his or her home and everything else, even though he or she is never convicted of a crime. Law enforcement agencies, faced with declining budgets, can use the law to help make up for shortfalls. And what an incentive for an unscrupulous officer to plant evidence. Soros believes passionately in individual rights and liberties. He once commented that "liberty is like air - you take it for granted, and don't miss it until it's gone." His ballot proposal would require a conviction before property can be forfeited. What possible argument could anyone make against that? I have no problem with forfeiture laws being applied to convicted criminals, but too many innocents have been victimized. Soros has helped provide us with the means to remedy this in November - and I strongly hope we do so. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck