Carrying Cash is NOT a Crime

It’s legal to travel domestically with any amount of cash. It’s legal to travel in and out of the U.S. with more than $10k if you declare it. But that doesn’t stop law enforcement from searching travelers’ property and seizing any cash they find without warrants or evidence of a crime.

Today we talk with IJ attorneys Jaba Tsitsuashvili and Ben Field about how the government treats carrying cash like a crime and what IJ’s doing to fight back.

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Hear about the cases, issues, and tactics advancing IJ’s fight for freedom—directly from the people on the front lines. Beyond the Brief explores the legal theories, strategies, and methods IJ uses to bring about real world change, expanding individual liberty and ending abuses of government power. Each episode gives listeners an in-depth, inside look at how—and why—we do what we do.

[steveladner]

People that pull you over to ask if you're carrying a large amount of cash are not concerned about your safety and security.

[coldspring]

Government robbery needs to end. There is no excuse

[rapid]

Do not talk to cops, do not consent to searches.

[elricsabb]

Can you imagine the irony of being distrustful of government institutions to the point of keeping your money out of banks only to have it seized for simply possessing a large amount of

[JIm-wb]

A friend of mine Jack is a millionaire landlord. For whatever reason, some of his tenants pay him in cash, so, at the end of the week he'd have like $60, 000 on hand. Then his bank refused to take his cash deposits because they thought he was a drug dealer. So he got a lawyer and took the bank to court and he won, on the grounds of innocent until proven guilty, and he also got a damage judgement of $12, 000. He jokes and says he made the bank pay him in cash

[firewoodtime]

Terrible when the cops are the criminals. It's really sickening

[sprky]

Anytime cash is seized and THEY can't prove it was proceeds of drugs, they should pay legal fees plus triple damages.

[worldlife]

Cash is extremely important in society. It's privacy and government doesn't like privacy rights.

[medbob]

Forfeiture should REQUIRE Felony Criminal Charges and arrest.

[MrNomad]

TSA stopped me like this. Thankfully i had a police officer that knew and respected the law and told TSA "it's not a crime to have cash".

[nikto-kykx]

Traffic stop: "You have any cash on you?" Me:"Is this a robbery?". Cop:"What?" Me: "Usually when someone with a gun asks me how much cash I have...its a robbery". Cop: "Turn around and put your hand behind your back".

[billmarshall]

"They have no legal right to interrogate you on the side of the road, " yet they do it every single day.

[mdhj]

I never carry large sums of cash. But only because I fear cops, not criminals.

[Yakomoe]

Never talk to the police. Do not answer their questions. Never give permission for a cop to do anything but leave your presence

[pyreneesfarm]

Indiana and Illiinois are both robber states Every truck driver, including me, have been threatened with being taken to jail for some non existent crime. I had a scale officer tell me i had substances that could not legally be transported together. I demanded proof. He started to run his mouth. I called he shipper who "talked strong to them" and showed him he was wrong, then he tried to write me a log violation for not updating my log immediately upon stopping. When I offered to call an Illinois lawyer, and wait for him. He grumbled and let me go. Illinois is corrupt from the get go

[justsoicanfingcomment]

And now she knows why her grandfather was distrustful of banks.

[oldschooldiy]

Cops know it is not illegal to travel with cash, they just know they can take any cash they want without having to worry about that pesky business of filing criminal charges! Thank you supreme court of the united states and our touted war on drugs....

[drewb]

It’s sad that most Americans don’t even know this is happening. End civil asset forfeiture.

[marc]

I flew internationally with $50k USD. I had all the paperwork for the money, source and reason, with me. The foreign country didn't try to take the cash, but did make me file piles of paperwork on it. Civil Forfeiture exists in lots of places, but nowhere else in the world treats it like the US.

[daviswall]

I received a fair amount of money awhile back and was at the bank and they asked if I wanted it in cash. Since it was quite a few thousand dollars and I was in another state and a couple hours from home, I asked for a certified check. You just never know when you could be pulled over and that cash taken away for no reason other than I was driving a bit too fast. IJ is doing great work!