Don’t pimp your ride

Next time you go trolling for crack rock and hookers, the city of Sacramento might just snag your Lexus. Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, is carrying legislation allowing local governments to seize vehicles belonging to those suspected of shopping the streets for illegal drugs and prostitutes. The problem, said Jones in a statement, is “drive-through delinquency” wherein “individuals cruise into poor neighborhoods, commit lewd and dangerous acts, and drive back out.”

The city of Sacramento had such an ordinance on the books for years, and in 2000 it even nabbed the mayor (now ex-mayor) of Folsom in North Sacramento trying to solicit an undercover cop with cash and cocaine. The mayor never saw that pick-up truck again.

Of course, some civil libertarians have argued that it’s not fair for the government to seize your property before you are convicted of a crime. And the California Supreme Court last month ruled that cities couldn’t enforce such ordinances because they trumped state law, forcing Sacramento and other towns to stop seizing cars for the time being. But even if Jones’ AB 1724 doesn’t become law, you might want to keep those “lewd and dangerous acts” in your own neighborhood.