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Seizures of Cash at Airports in Florida
Was your money, cash, currency, or other property seized at the airport in Florida or another state? If you were the victim of "jetway robbery" by federal agents who seized your money at the airport, then hire attorney Leslie Sammis at Sammis Law Firm.
We can start the process to get your U.S. Currency back as quickly as possible. Read this guide on how to get seized money back from the airport. Find out why our attorneys ALWAYS recommend taking the following steps:
- hire an attorney to immediately contest the legality of the seizure by demanding early judicial intervention and a referral to the U.S. Attorney to review whether the seizure was illegal or lacking in probable cause and for possible court action in U.S. District Court (instead of filing a less effective administrative petition for remission, mitigation, or offer in compromise); and
- make sure your attorney immediately files a demand to preserve any video surveillance evidence from the airport authorities before it can be destroyed; and
- make sure your attorney obtains a court order to obtain a copy of any surveillance video from the airport authorities.
We work directly with clients for most of our cases in Florida. We even take cases outside of Florida by teaming up with local attorneys in that jurisdiction to fight the case. If you are an attorney that wants to co-counsel with us, call us to discuss the best way to fight for the return of the money.
After your money is seized, the federal agency that took the cash will send you notice of your rights in a letter which can take weeks or months to arrive. But you don't have to wait for that letter to hire attorney Leslie Sammis.
Instead, your attorney can file a verified claim with the agency or even file a demand for the return of the property in the U.S. District Court immediately. Hiring an attorney to file the claim on the same day as the seizure (or shortly thereafter) will help you speed up the process.
Although you have the option to petition for administrative remission, administrative mitigation, or make an offer in compromise, those administrative options typically DO NOT work. Many people lose all of their money because they waive their rights to court intervention by asking for remission or mitigation (and then regret that decision when their claim is eventually denied with a form letter).
If you wait for the notice of seizure letter to arrive in the mail, be advised that it will be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address provided by the petitioner at the time of seizure which is usually listed on the receipt.
Read the notice of seizure letter carefully. Pay particular attention to the last day to file a claim. If the claim is not received by the agency by this date (in their hands), then the claim will be returned because it was filed after the expiration of the period to file a claim.
Attorney Leslie Sammis can make sure the verified judicial claim (contesting the legality of the seizure through referral to the U.S. Attorney's Office) is filed in a proper and timely manner. For this reason, you must act quickly!
If federal agents with the DEA, ICE, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), or the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), seized your cash at the airport, we can help you fight to get all of the money back.
Instead of just letting them keep your money, you should retain an attorney who can fight the case aggressively. To get the money back, you should quickly hire an experienced attorney to demand the quick return of the money or that a forfeiture action is filed in the U.S. District Court.
Attorneys for Airport U.S. Currency Seizures in Tampa, FL
Want to know how to get seized money back from the airport? At Sammis Law Firm, attorney Leslie Sammis is experienced fighting civil asset forfeiture actions and fighting for the speedy return of cash or other property seized at the airport for forfeiture pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 881.
We can take your case on a contingency basis so that you do not have to pay us any attorney fees or costs unless we recover the money or other property. With offices in downtown Tampa in Hillsborough County, we are familiar with the best ways to fight seizures of cash at the following airports:
- Tampa International Airport (TPA);
- Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ);
- St. Petersburg / Clearwater International Airport (PIE);
- Orlando International Airport (MCO);
- Southwest Florida International Airport in Ft. Myers;
- Miami International Airport; and
- Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL); and
- Jacksonville International Airport.
We also represent clients for incidents at the reliever airports including all of the reliever airports in the Tampa Bay Area including:
- Albert Whitted Airport (SPG SPG KSPG) in St. Petersburg
- Tampa Executive Airport (was Vandenberg Airport) (VDF KVDF); and
- Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF TPF KTPF) in Tampa, FL.
We are often contacted by attorneys outside of Florida, and we work as a consultant or co-counsel in those cases as well. If you are an attorney and would like to discuss a case, give us a call.
We also represent clients if their cash or other property is seized for forfeiture at any bus station or Amtrak train station in Florida. If federal agents with DEA, ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or Homeland Security Investigations, seized your cash at the airport then we can help.
If they take your money, immediately contact an attorney who can file an immediate demand for court action and "early judicial intervention."
Demanding that either the government returns your money or that the U.S. Attorney's Office files the forfeiture action in the U.S. District Court is often the fastest way to get your money back.
When it comes to airport cash seizures by agents with DEA, ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or Homeland Security, a Civil Forfeiture Defense Attorney in Tampa, FL, can help you fight to get your money back.
We can help you challenge the legality of the seizure and the validity of any forfeiture action.
Call 813-250-0500.
Our Case Results in Airport Seizure Cases
The attorneys at Sammis Law Firm have represented clients in numerous airport seizure cases throughout Florida and other parts of the county. Our recent victories in jetway robbery cases include:
- $16,563 seized by an agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at Tampa International Airport and $16,563 was returned within 4 months in 2020 (after CBP alleged that our client failed to file a FinCEN Form 105 before an international flight);
- $159,950 plus interest returned by Homeland Security after a cash seizure at Tampa International Airport within 6 months in 2020 (after we alleged that some of the money had gone missing but everything deposited into the account by the agent was returned);
- $63,490.00 seized by Homeland Security at the Orlando International Airport, but the entire amount was returned within five months (after a complaint for forfeiture was filed by the Assistant United States Attorney and dismissed in the U.S. District Court) in 2020;
- $45,001 seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Cleveland, Ohio, who returned $45,001 in 2020;
- $52,620 seized by DEA at the Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport but the full amount was returned six (6) months in 2019;
- $30,000 seized in 2019 at the Tampa International Airport and all $30,000 was returned;
- $30,000.00 seized at an airport in San Francisco but $29,375.89 was returned;
- $13,260 seized at the Orlando International Airport and $13,260 returned within six (6) months;
- $13,227 seized by a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI") at the Tampa International Airport and only $11,892 returned (after we alleged that some of the money had been stolen and was never found by HSI).
How to Get Your Cash Back After an Airport Seizure
In each of the past three years, federal agents with CBP have seized more than $60 million in cash from international travelers, mostly at airports. These takings have become known as the "jetway robbery."
If you are traveling within the United States, there is no legal limit to the amount of currency that you may carry at any given time. But if you carry a large amount of currency, then state or federal agents might try and seize it during a traffic stop, at a port of entry, bus station, train station, or at the airport.
Seizures at the airport in Florida are particularly common during the screening process at a security checkpoint before boarding.
Instruments used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) during the screening process can detect the amount of currency in your carry-on or checked luggage. Even handheld detectors get signals from the strips in dollar bills. When the strips are stacked together, the signal is even stronger.
If you have more than $10,000.00 in cash, even for a domestic flight in or out of a Florida airport, it might result in federal agents detaining you and seizing any money in your possession.
When agents with the TSA discovered large amounts of bundled currency in your carry-on bag as you go through the screening process at the security checkpoint, the information is passed onto law enforcement officers who might detain before your flight.
Although you are not required to make any statement, many people start talking soon after the detention begins. When the federal agency encounters a story that doesn't make sense, they might just seize the money.
Because many people don't immediately contest the seizure, federal agents have figured out an easy way to separate large amounts of money from suspected drug smugglers, money laundering, or bulk cash smuggling suspects.
After the seizure of money from a person at the airport, the agents will often write you a receipt for an "undisclosed amount of U.S. Currency" before depositing the cash into an "Asset Forfeiture Fund" managed by the Department of Justice.
You are then provided with an opportunity to contest the seizure of the referenced currency in the United States District Court.
How do you get seized money back after a seizure at the airport? Although you have the option to petition for remission or mitigation, those administrative options don't work.
Instead, talk to an attorney about "filing a claim" for court action (sometimes called "early judicial intervention"). We can explain how to get seized money back from airport.
Call us at 813-250-0500 to discuss your case.
Indicators of Drug Trafficking or Bulk Cash Smuggling
Federal agents at the airport are looking for the following indicators of drug trafficking or bulk cash smuggling which might involve:
- traveling with a one-way ticket;
- buying that ticket at the counter or within 72 hours of the departure;
- flying to a state where marijuana is legal for recreational purposes such as Colorado or California;
- using cash to buy the plane ticket;
- using another individual to purchase the plant ticket;
- not having any lodging arrangements;
- artfully concealing U.S. currency in carry-on luggage;
- providing inconsistent statements regarding the currency;
- having no verifiable source of income;
- possessed evidence of structuring activity;
- having a criminal record; and/or
- being a male between the age of 18 and 39 years old.
When cash is seized, the agents are often looking for a young man traveling to California or Colorado who recently purchased a one-way airline ticket.
The agents assume that the person is coming into a state where marijuana is legal to purchase a large amount of marijuana and then drive it back to another state in a rental vehicle where the marijuana can be sold on the black market for a large profit.
Obtaining Surveillance Video from the Tampa International Airport
The authorities at the Tampa International Airport make it next to impossible to obtain video surveillance evidence. For this reason, you need an attorney to quickly send the appropriate letters to identify and preserve the evidence.
You also need an attorney to file a litigate a demand for a court order for good cause shown to get the surveillance video before it is destroyed.
The Authority retains surveillance video for 30 days per the Florida Department of State retention schedule. The retention policy provides:
This record series consists of surveillance recordings created to monitor activities occurring inside and/or outside of public buildings and/or on public property (including in public vehicles such as school buses and municipal buses, and in public roadways such as intersections monitored by red light cameras).
Since these recordings may play an integral part in prosecution or disciplinary actions, agencies are responsible for ensuring that internal management policies are in place establishing criteria for which images should be retained for further investigation. 30 days.
You can find the entire schedule on the Florida Department of State website.
If you make a request for video surveillance, the authorities at the Tampa International Airport and Central Records will claim that the video is both a component of and reveals part of Tampa International Airport's security system or surveillance techniques and thus is confidential and exempt from public disclosure under Florida Statute Sections 119.071(2)(d), 119.071(3)(a), 281.301 and/or 331.22.
If the video also involves the checkpoint area, it contains sensitive security information controlled by 49 CFR Parts 15 and 1520 or other pertinent state or federal statutes. As such and in accordance with those statutes, the Authority will only disclose the requested video to you upon a showing of good cause before a court of competent jurisdiction.
Until you obtain such a court order, you should file the appropriate demand to preserve the video that has been retained until that time. (Note also, if applicable, active criminal investigative information is also exempt under Section 119.071(2).)
Read more about seizures of money at the airport in Orlando, FL, and the best way to preserve the video at that airport. If you are wondering how to get the seized money back from the airport, then contact us to find out the importance of obtaining the surveillance video from the airport authorities.
The Typical Airport Seizure of Currency Case
In these cases, the federal agents suspect that the suspect is flying to a state to pick up a trafficking amount of marijuana or other drugs and then rent a vehicle to drive the drugs back to Florida. As a result, many of these cases involve a one-way airline ticket to Colorado or California.
Many of these seizures of currency cases involve an alleged "consensual encounter" at the airport between the petitioner and law enforcement agents. The agent might approach the petitioner while wearing plain clothes.
The agent might tell the petitioner that he is not under arrest and was free to continue with his travel. The report will allege that the petitioner:
- agreed to speak with the agent and complied with the agent's request to produce identification;
- was engaged in conversation;
- explained where he was traveling from and to;
- advised that the tickets were purchased with cash or purchased by another person;
- didn't have lodging arrangements;
- gave free and voluntary consent to search his luggage;
- had large stack of currency wrapped with rubber bands and consisting of all $100 bill denomination;
- gave inconsistent statements about where the money came from.
Before terminating the encounter, the federal agents will then tell the petitioner that the currency found in his luggage was suspected to be related to controlled substances and would be detained pending further investigation.
In many of these cases, a canine trained to alert to the presence of controlled substances alerted in a positive manner to the currency.
A count of the currency seized from traveler's luggage by a financial institution determined that the traveler was in possession of a large amount of currency. The referenced currency is then seized and forfeited pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881.
Choosing Between an Administrative or Judicial Forfeiture
You have the opportunity to challenge the forfeiture. The federal agents hope you take no action or choose an administrative forfeiture. The better course of action is challenging the taking in a judicial forfeiture by demanding that an attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office review the case.
That review requires the AUSA to either immediately return the property or file a forfeiture action in the appropriate U.S. District Court within 90 days of when you made the demand.
Going along with an administrative forfeiture is a bad idea because they are handled in-house by the same agency that took the money. These challenges do not take place in a courtroom. No judge will see the case.
You get none of the protections contained in the rules of evidence or the rules of procedure that normally accompany a lawsuit. The agents prefer the administrative forfeiture challenges for all of these reasons.
On the other hand, judicial forfeiture requires the filing of a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court where the rules of evidence and the rules of procedure apply. More importantly, requesting a court action might trigger the State Attorney's Office to decline to file a forfeiture action which is the quickest way to get all of the money back.
The Notice of Seizure after Money is Seized at the Airport by DEA or ICE Agents
If DEA or ICE agents took your money at the airport, you are entitled to due process of law which means a fair hearing to contest the legality of the taking of your cash or other property.
If your cash or property is taken, the agents are required to issue you a receipt and then a notice of seizure. The notice of seizure must be issued to any interested person to notify them of the seizure and give them a chance to file a claim.
An interested party can include anyone who has a legal right to claim the seized asset including the owner of the property or a lienholder.
Under 18 U.S.C. 983(a)(1)(A), the government has 60 days from the date of the seizure of your cash at the airport to send you a Notice of Seizure. When the property is seized by a local or state law enforcement agency, the deadline can be extended to 90 days.
If the notice of seizure is not provided within the applicable timeline, then the government must immediately return the property. If the government actually files a Civil Forfeiture lawsuit before the 60 or 90-day deadline expires then the Administrative Forfeiture process ends and the Judicial Forfeiture process begins.
What is the Deadline to File a Claim for Immediate Judicial Intervention?
If the government sends you a notice of seizure within the 60 or 90-day deadline, then any party with an interest in the property has 35 days to file a claim. The 35-day deadline begins from the notice was mailed.
If the required claim is not RECEIVED within that 35 day period, then the government gets to keep all of the money under an administrative forfeiture action.
If the proper claim is filed within the 35 day period, then the government only has ninety (90) days thereafter to do the following:
- return the cash or property to the person making the claim;
- filing a civil forfeiture lawsuit in the district court; or
- obtain a criminal indictment showing that the property is subject to forfeiture.
Keep in mind that a civil forfeiture does not require a criminal conviction, instead, the government must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the property is subject to forfeiture.
Defenses to Civil Asset Forfeiture Actions at the Airport
Your attorney can help you assert defenses in order to convince the attorneys working for the government that it would be better to return the money or property to you without further delay. Those defenses that can be raised by your civil asset forfeiture defense attorney include:
- an unlawful interrogation;
- an innocent owner defense;
- an excessive fine defense:
- illegal search or seizure;
- lack of nexus defense;
- statute of limitations;
- showing a legitimate source or use;
- insufficient evidence;
- conflict in the evidence; or
- unreliable K-9 evidence.
We can help you negotiate the return of your money or other property. The amount of money the government is willing to return will depend on the strength or weakness of your case.
When you hire a Civil Forfeiture Defense Attorney, make sure they are able to fight the case to the end. The best settlements usually occur early in the case or right before an adversarial preliminary hearing or at trial.
Problems with Filing a Petition for Remission or Mitigation
The main problem with trying to file a petition for remission or mitigation is that the case will then be decided by a Senior Attorney (including Carmen R. Pomares) with the Asset Forfeiture Section of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the U.S. Department of Justice.
If you file a petition for remission or mitigation regarding the seizure of money or other property, the DEA might simply deny the petition because it fails to meet the requirements for remission or mitigation. 28 C.F.R. Part 9 (2017).
Federal regulations explicitly prohibit remission of a forfeiture unless the petitioner establishes the following:
- A valid, good faith, and legally cognizable interest in the seized property as an owner or lienholder; and
- Qualification as an "innocent owner" within the meaning of the applicable civil forfeiture statute.
You should understand that the remission or mitigation of a forfeiture is neither a right nor a privilege, but an act of grace. In re the Matter of Sixty Seven Thousand Four Hundred Seventy Dollars ($67,467.00) v. United States, 901 F.2d 1540, 1543 (11th Cir. 1990); Laconia Savings Bank v. United States of America, 116 F. Supp. 2d 248 (2000).
A Petition for Remission and Mitigation "does not serve to contest the forfeiture, but rather is a request for executive pardon of the property based upon the petitioner's innocence or, for a wrongdoer, on a plea of leniency." United States v. Vega, 72 F.3d 507, 514 (7th Cir. 1995).
A decision with respect to remission or mitigation of a forfeiture is made solely at the discretion of the Attorney General. See 21 U.S.C. § 881 (d) (2017); 19 U.S.C. § 1618 (2017).
The Attorney General and the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have delegated the authority to determine the merits of such petitions to the Asset Forfeiture Section of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the U.S. Department of Justice. 28 C.F.R. §§0.100 (b), 0.104; 28 C.F.R. §9.1 (b).
The Senior Attorney with the Asset Forfeiture Section of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the U.S. Department of Justice acts as the Ruling Official and considers whether the evidence is sufficient for forfeiture.
The attorney with the DEA's Asset Forfeiture Section starts with a presumption that a valid forfeiture occurred. 28 C.P.R. § 9.5 (a) (4). See Juncaj v. United States, 894 F.Supp. 318, 320 (E. D. Mich. 1995); Reinoso v. Drug Enforcement Administration, No. 93-CIV-1516 (KTD), 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18054.
The Petition for Remission or Mitigation Terminates Any Change for Judicial Review
The decision of Carmen R. Pomares or another Senior Attorney with the DEA's Asset Forfeiture Section on a petition for remission or mitigation is not thereafter subject to judicial review on its merits.
In United States v. One 1987 Jeep Wrangler Automobile, 972 F.2d 472,479 (2d Cir. 1992), the court found that the "overwhelming weight of authority supports the position that a federal court lacks jurisdiction to review the merits of administrative forfeiture decisions once the administrative process has begun." United States v. Hewett, (S.D.N.Y. 2003) 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9812; Walker v. DEA, (S.D.N.Y. 2003) 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14958.
In other words, once the administrative process has begun, a federal district court generally does not have subject matter jurisdiction to review the merits of an administrative forfeiture decision. Dawson v. The Drug Enforcement Administration, 927 F. Supp. 748 (1996).
Reasons the Petition for Remission is Denied
The petitioner has the burden of establishing the basis for granting a petition for remission or mitigation of forfeited property. See Regulations Governing the Remission or Mitigation of Civil and Criminal Forfeiture, 28 C.P.R. § 9.5 (a) (3). See 19 U.S.C. § 1618 (The Attorney General may return the property if he finds mitigating circumstances to justify the remission.).
At the time of seizure, there was sufficient probable cause to believe the currency represents proceeds from the illicit sale of controlled substances and/or was used or intended to be used to facilitate illicit controlled substance transactions in violation of21 U.S.C. § 881 (a) (6).
The petition is often found to be devoid of any type of documentation to establish that the referenced currency was derived from legitimate sources. Pursuant to 28 C.F.R. §§ 9.3 (c)(iv) and 9.5 (a)(3), a petitioner bears the burden of establishing the basis for granting the petition. Failure to provide the required information may be cause for the denial of the petition.
For these reasons, the attorney with the DEA will often find that the Petitioner has not provided sufficient documentation to support a legitimate source for the referenced currency.
Examples of documentation that would show sufficient documentation to support a legitimate source for the reference currency would include employment, tax, bank, or other documentation that would establish the petitioner had legitimate sources of income.
Whether Extenuating Circumstances Warrant Mitigation of the Forfeiture
Even when the petition does not meet the minimum conditions for remission, as a matter of discretion, the attorney for the DEA's Asset Forfeiture Section will re-examined the petition to determine whether extenuating circumstances exist that warrant mitigation of the forfeiture. 28 C.F.R. § 9.5 (b).
In many of these cases, the attorney for the Asset Forfeiture Section of the DEA will conclude that the petitioner has failed to adequately demonstrate that any mitigating factors exist to justify any relief from the forfeiture.
Eighth Amendment Prohibitions Against Excessive Punishments
The attorney for the DEA will also review the facts of this case to determine if the forfeiture would be in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibition against excessive punishments, as discussed in Austin v. United States, 113 S. Ct. 2801 (1993).
The DEA attorney will determine that the administrative forfeiture was entirely proportional to the offense, considering the substantial connection between the forfeited property and the offense.
In addition, the correct forum in which to challenge the constitutionality of the forfeiture is Federal District Court. Since the Petitioner failed to contest this forfeiture judicially, this option is no longer open. United States v. Giraldo, 45 F.3d 509 (1st Cir. 1995); Caraballo v. Drug Enforcement Administration, 62 Fed. Appx. 362, 363 (2003).
Reconsideration of the DEA's Decision to Deny Remission or Mitigation
The Petitioner may request reconsideration of any decision. 28 C.F.R. § 9.3 (j). Only one request for reconsideration shall be considered. Any request for reconsideration must be based on information or evidence not previously considered.
This new information or evidence must be material to the basis for this denial or must present a basis clearly demonstrating that the denial is erroneous. Requests must be postmarked or received by this office within 10 days of your receipt of the letter informing you of the decision.
Further correspondence with this office must include the DEA Case and Asset ID numbers referenced above and be addressed to: Carmen R. Pomares or the Forfeiture Counsel assigned to the case with the Asset Forfeiture Section, Drug Enforcement Administration, HQs Response, 8701 Morrissette Drive, Springfield, Virginia 22152.
Seizure of Unreported Currency at the Airport
If your money was seized by officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection then you are not alone. On a typical day in 2017, CBP officers around the country seized $265,205 in undeclared or illicit currency. Many of these cases involved the seizure of unreported currency at airports.
Travelers may carry as much currency as they wish into and out of the United States and it is not taxed at the port of entry. However, federal law requires that travelers who are carrying more than $10,000 in currency or monetary instruments must report it to a CBP officer and complete a U.S. Treasury Department financial form.
To find unreported exportations of bulk U.S. currency, CBP performs outbound inspections to find the proceeds from alleged illicit activity or currency that funds transnational criminal organizations.
If your money was seized by federal agents for the failure to report currency, by agents with Homeland Security Investigations, then contact an experienced attorney at Sammis Law Firm.
What Happens to the Money Seized at the Tampa International Airport
Under provisions of the U.S. Department of Treasury Guide to Equitable Sharing for Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, state forfeiture funds shared with local law enforcement agencies must be expended for law enforcement purposes.
Likewise, the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act (FCFA) authorizes law enforcement agencies to use the proceeds collected under the FCFA for authorized law enforcement purposes as well.
Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement for Airport Seizures
Is a warrant needed before the authorities can seize money at the airport for civil asset forfeiture? Yes, unless an exception found in 18 U.S. Code § 981(b)(2) applies.
18 U.S. Code § 981(b)(2) provides:
Seizures pursuant to this section shall be made pursuant to a warrant obtained in the same manner as provided for a search warrant under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, except that a seizure may be made without a warrant if—
(A) a complaint for forfeiture has been filed in the United States district court and the court issued an arrest warrant in rem pursuant to the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims;
(B) there is probable cause to believe that the property is subject to forfeiture and—
(i) the seizure is made pursuant to a lawful arrest or search; or
(ii) another exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement would apply; or
(C) the property was lawfully seized by a State or local law enforcement agency and transferred to a Federal agency.
Additional Resources
DEA Asset Forfeiture Section – The Asset Forfeiture Section provides legal advice on a variety of issues related to criminal, civil, and administrative asset forfeiture. Attorneys in the asset forfeiture section of the Office of Chief Counsel in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) review pre-seizure probable cause determinations for legal sufficiency and to ensure that due process is provided to all parties with a legal interest in the seized property. Attorneys provide legal advice and support to DEA management and field offices worldwide. These attorneys also rule on petitions for remission or mitigation of forfeiture. Attorneys in the asset forfeiture section represent DEA agents in confidential informant lawsuits, reviewing relevant sections of DEA and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) policy, and draft legal memoranda analyzing issues inherent in asset forfeiture matters. The attorney also responds to daily inquiries regarding proper processing and disposition of seized and forfeited assets and prepare litigation reports supporting probable cause determinations for judicial forfeiture cases, drafts declarations to support litigation positions. The attorney works with DEA and other law enforcement personnel to support the U.S. Attorney's Offices with judicial forfeiture cases, assist DEA personnel working with other Federal agencies and communicating with private attorneys, strengthen drug-related investigations and pre-seizure planning, serve as a liaison between DEA Agents and federal prosecutors, and provides legal instruction to domestic and international asset forfeiture personnel.
Field Office of the CBP in Tampa, FL – Visit the website of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to find the contact information for the Field Office in Tampa, FL, at 1624 East Seventh Avenue, Suite 300, in Tampa, FL 33605. The phone number is (813) 712-6100. The field office is opened from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Monday through Friday. The press office is managed by Michael Silva.
Forfeiture Funds for Tampa International Airport Police Department – At a recent board meeting of the Tampa International Airport Aviation Authority held on February 6, 2020, at 9:00 a.m., in Boardroom Level 3 at Tampa International Airport, the board authorized the expenditure of state forfeiture funds. Under Authority Standard Procedure 5440.14, expenditures from State forfeiture funds can be made only after approval from Legal Affairs and the Authority Board. At a board meeting, it was discussed that Legal Affairs reviewed the request and agreed with the expenditures. In 2017, the board authorized the expenditure of State forfeiture funds to be used by the Tampa International Airport Police Department (TIAPD) in an amount not-to-exceed $5,000 for the purchase of critical incident management training. The item was included in the State Forfeiture Funds Budget. In 2020, the board authorized the expenditure of Federal forfeiture funds to be used by the Tampa International Airport Police Department for a maximum purchase authorization of $19,460.80 for the purchase of police carrier vests.
Jetway Robbery? Homeland Security and Cash Seizures at Airport – Visit the website of the Institute for Justice (IJ) to find an article explaining why Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents seizure money, cash, and U.S. Currency from unsuspecting travelers on both domestic and international flights. The study uses data from the Treasury Department's forfeiture database, the Seized Assets and Case Tracking System (SEACATS) from 2000 through 2016.
Finding an Attorney for Airport Currency Seizure in Florida
In the typical case in which currency is seized at the airport, a person is traveling through an international airport in Florida upon arrival from a foreign country. The person is in possession of a large amount of currency. Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) decide to detain and question the person about the U.S. currency.
The CBP customs agents will then seized the money and issue the person a "Custody Receipt for Seized Property and Evidence." A few weeks later, the person will receive a letter entitled "CAFRA Notice of Seizure and Information to Claimants Form AF."
The letter provides notice of the date, place, and legal reason for the seizure of the currency held in violation of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5316 and 5317. The notice also provides a list of ways to challenge or contest the seizure.
For seizures by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at the airports in central Florida, including at the airport in Tampa or Orlando, the initial "Notice of Seizure and Information to Claimants CAFRA Form" will be sent via certified mail return receipt requested from Robert M. Del Toro, Fines, Penalties and Forfeiture Officer.
After we are retained in a case in which currency was seized at the airport, we first request a copy of any surveillance video from the airport. We explain to the client why we should demand immediate judicial action instead of filing a Petition for Remission or Mitigation of Forfeiture.
If the money is not immediately returned or a forfeiture action is not filed in U.S. District Court within the time allowed by law, then we filed a lawsuit in federal court to demand the return of the property.
If you were the victim of "Jetway Robbery" after your currency was seized at the airport or a port of entry, then contact an experienced civil asset forfeiture attorney at Sammis Law Firm with offices in downtown Tampa, FL.
We can help you understand how to fight the seizure of your currency at a port of entry, bus station, train station, through the mail, or at an airport. We also represent clients who are arrested at the airport for carrying a concealed weapon or other contraband. Read more about attorneys fighting a DEA seizure and forfeiture case.
Call 813-250-0500.
This article was last updated on Tuesday, October 13, 2020.


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Strategies For Hiring The Very Best Professional photographer
By Dan Buckner Posted On The month of january 06, 2011
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Ahh, the fairytale wedding that each youthful girl spends her teens and twenties planning. Every girl's parents be worried about the way they covers it. So, spend your hard earned money wisely and completely take a look at every professional you hire to create your son's dreams a real possibility, particularly the professional photographer.
Like a lot of you, we compensated for many in our wedding ourselves. Fortunately, approximately we thought, we won a totally free engagement picture from the well-established professional photographer in Detroit. The studio was stylish, the professional photographer who required our photos was efficient and also the shots were fabulous! It had been an easy and quick decision to employ him to capture our special day on film. Again, approximately we thought.
Our 8:00 PM wedding ended up being to be by candle light there were candelabras everywhere creating an incredible glowing sight. It genuinely was like something would see inside a movie, that's until 7:55 PM once the professional photographer started up every light within the church.
I only wish someone had an image of my wife's face during her heated "discussion" with this professional photographer about turning the lights back lower. Afterall, it had been a candle light ceremony. Pointless to state, we'd no pictures taken from the ceremony, since the professional photographer wasn't prepared and did not have enough time to help make the necessary adjustments for that (insufficient) lighting.
Following the ceremony, we switched the illuminates basically we required the required images of the marriage party and family. I was too busy experiencing the moment to understand the professional photographer was just taking single shots of numerous groups.
Pointless to state, our picture album is stuffed with under professional pictures. For instance, there exists a couple of pictures of the greatest man together with his eyes closed, my mother searching in the ceiling and my nephew picking his nose. Other great tales.
The outside reception being worse, if you're able to accept is as true. Lighting, again, would be a huge issue there was just one picture people, the primary figures within this story.
So how will you seize control and never enable your fairytale be a nightmare? Easy, just follow these useful tips when interviewing and hiring the professional photographer for the wedding:
#1 Provide, on paper, a summary of minimum shots you anticipate.
#2 Discuss the venues you'll be at and get if you will see any special must capture these moments. Also, ask what experience your professional photographer has using these potential limitations. We later learned that the professional photographer we hired was mainly a studio professional photographer working mainly in controlled settings. A bad match for any candle light wedding!
#3 Get and look for references for the professional photographer – not only for that studio.
#4 Make certain the thing is portfolios of the photographer's work. We reviewed many albums however they were the job from the studio's owner, not our professional photographer.
#5 Be very careful and get lots of questions.
Final point here is you have to communicate clearly well ahead of time from the special day, so that you can then relax and toast to some duration of happiness. And hopefully search back about this day with fond recollections and great pictures.

subset: commoncrawl


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From refugee camp to Socceroos World Cup glory
Posted on 4 December 2017 by Ena Bilobrk
Thanks to the FIFA World Cup draw, we can finally pin down the first telly dates for June and have six months of long debates on who will make it through. But Miloš Degenek won't spend the 16th of June in front of the telly. Instead, he will appear on it, hopefully making his World Cup debut for Australia against France. Ena Bilobrk spoke to the young defender about dreams, reality and World Cup hopes.
"I would love to see us overcoming the group stage and I think we can", said Degenek. The 23-year-old is currently playing for Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan's J1 League and made his debut for the Australian national team last year.
It was a long and tough qualifier for the Socceroos, but they managed to earn a World Cup spot for the fourth consecutive time. Yet Degenek's way to the world's premier sporting event was a lot harder.
He admitted: "Never in my life had I thought I will play at the World Cup. I could only dream about it and now I made my dream come true." Degenek was born in Croatia, but being Serbian his family was forced to flee to Belgrade where they lived as refugees during the Kosovo War.
He was only seven when they moved to Sydney.
Although his origins are Serbian, Degenek is proud to play for the Socceroos:
"The most important thing for me is that my national team, my country, plays a good World Cup. I don't care about what others do. Of course, my parents live in Serbia now and it is a great country, but it wouldn't be a goal for me to play against them."
Yet, he added: "On the other hand, I would love to play against Croatia, as Ivica Olić is a good friend of mine and he is now assistant manager of their national team."
The two played side-by-side during a troubled season at TSV 1860 Munich. Degenek managed to escape before the Bavarians were relegated to the German fourth tier after failing to pay for the third tier license.
"In the end we shouldn't be looking that far ahead. We will focus from match to match and the first one will be the most important one. France are one of the best teams in the World Cup and if we play well against them anything could be possible", explained Australia's number two.
The boys from Down Under avoided a group of death but will be doing well to reach the knockout rounds after being drawn against three teams ranked in the world's top 12.
He said: "Again, everything is possible. Football is being played over 90 minutes and to snitch a good result against Denmark and Peru won't be easy but we won't make it easy for them either."
The Socceroos, based in Kazan during the tournament, will have another slight advantage to European teams.
"Travelling long distances and heat is basically Australian's every-day life. It is nothing new and nothing can surprise us. We will prepare like any other team and hope to overcome the group stage. After that, it is all down to whom you will play next, but again, I don't want to think that far ahead", he laughed.
Featured Image © COPYRIGHT AUSTRALIA NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM


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Mission Description
Hearts with Hope: led by Dr. Juan Carlos Alejos, Chief of Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit for Heart Traansplantation at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, offers with a team of volunteers the most advanced open surgical and endovascular-non-surgical interventions for severe heart problems in two locations: in Arequipa since ten yeawrs ago and in Lima for the last four yeawrs at the "Efrain Montesinos Cardiovascular Institute" a PAMS created advanced treatment center in Hospital Dos de Mayo. Each year this Mission gives consulations to hundres of low income patients and free care to those who needed it most, reaching an average of fifty procedures every year. In USA each procedure would have an average cost of over one hundred thousands dollars. Our distinguished Pediatric Cardiologist Dr. Guillermo Young and Hardley have participated since the beginning in helping Dr. Alejos in this mission.


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Price: £14.95
Quantity: 1 available
Book Condition: Very Good
"First edition card softback, 1939, with unclipped jacket. In overall very good used condition in a good dj with only minor signs of handling and storage - dj is rubbed to edges but remains protected in the original acetate wrapper which has become slightly discoloured and wrinkled; card covers lightly spotted. Internally clean. Binding tight and appears little read, no annotations or inscriptions; text and illustrations bright and clear throughout. Not an old library book. Photograph available."
Title: "Son Of Man: Pictures And Carvings By Indian, African And Chinese Artists"
Categories: General, Religion, Theology and Philosophy,
Edition: 1st
Publisher: The Society For The Propagation Of The Gospel: 1939
Binding: Softback
Book Condition: Very Good
Jacket Condition: Good
Item: 1.00 Item
Seller ID: 140182


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Meldreth kids tour local building site
PUBLISHED: 17:32 05 November 2011 | UPDATED: 09:26 07 November 2011
CHILDREN from Meldreth Pre-School were given an insight into how houses are built with a special site tour last week.
The youngsters donned the correct safety equipment and were shown round Bloor Homes White Croft Road development in the village.
Liz Reynolds, co-leader, said: "The children loved it, it was absolutley wonderful,
"They loved seeing the digger move, we had a demonstration from the digger driver, and they loved seeing the size of the crane."
If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Royston Crow. Click the link in the orange box above for details.


text: Asian qualifiers draw to provide pathway to Qatar 2022 Jul 17, 2019 0 466 12345 QNAKuala LumpurThe Asian qualifiers draw for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Preliminary Competition and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 will be held on Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, providing Asia's top 40 nations with their pathway to glory.The seedings for the draw will be based on the latest FIFA Rankings issued on June 14, 2019 and following the conclusion of the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 where Bangladesh, Cambodia, Guam, Malaysia and Mongolia - advanced to Round 2, according to the AFC.com.The 40 nations will be drawn into eight groups of five teams and compete in a double round robin format, with matches to be held from September 5, 2019 to June 9, 2020. The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 finals and the final round of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots in the 24-team AFC Asian Cup China 2023. RELATED ARTICLES PM inspects progress made in Kahramaa's strategic projects Jul 17, 2019 0 1444 Qatargas delivers 3,000th LNG cargo to Japan Jul 17, 2019 0 969 Qatar fully committed to safety and prosperity of all workers: Official Jul 17, 2019 0 1078 Silk Way rally Glory for Attiyah Overdrive Racing's Nasser Saleh al Attiyah and French navigator Matthieu Baumel completed a clean sweep of stage wins to secure an emphatic maiden victory in the gruelling 2019 Silk Way Rally after the final stage .. MME removes illegal constructions at farms in Al Shahaniya The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), represented by the Municipality of Al Shahaniya, on Tuesday launched a campaign to remove irregularities at the farms located in the municipality. The move is part of .. French missile found among arms seized in Italy sold 25 yrs ago: Khater Tribune News Network Doha A French missile found among arsenal of weapons seized in Italy was sold by Qatar 25 years ago to a third country, a top official has said. "Qatar is working very closely with the pertinent parties, .. Trump denies racism charges US President Donald Trump denied accusations of racism on Tuesday after launching an attack on four minority Democratic lawmakers, saying he does not have "a racist bone". Trump tweeted out a defence of his incendiary ..


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Hoboken Daycare and More at Smart Start Academy
At Smart Start Academy in Hoboken, you will discover a range of programs for children that are designed to foster a safe, fun, and active environment. We are here to help your kids learn, be active, and discover new ways to express themselves creatively, intelligently, emotionally, and socially.
Here, we understand that every child is different. Everyone has different interests and needs, and everyone responds differently to different activities. This is foremost in our teachers' minds when we interact with our students so we can help them all reach their potential.
Our Programs
We offer a wide range of programs to meet your family's needs. From our infant program to preschool and backup care programs, you can find the solution you need here in Hoboken.
- Infant program – Daycare for children ages 6 weeks to 18 months. The care and activities provided at this age are designed to encourage learning and development.
- Toddler program – We feel that toddlers learn best through discovery and experiencing things for themselves. Our teachers design their lesson to meet a toddler's specific needs.
- Preschool program – Our Hoboken preschool program is for children between 2 and 3 years old and is filled with great opportunities to explore new ideas and activities.
- Pre-kindergarten program – For children ages 4 to 5, this is a great way to start diving into new concepts, like math and science, and still develop their physical and fine motor skills.
- Daycare afterschool programs – Your children don't have to come home to an empty house. They can engage in our programs from 2 to 6 p.m. after school is over.
- Backup care program – When your regular child care arrangements have fallen through – for whatever reason – we're there to back you up.
Get the Best Daycare in Hoboken
The academic year at our Hoboken location runs from September through June. We are committed to connecting children with the best teachers, in the best learning environment, so they can reach their potential at any age.
Our Hoboken preschool and daycare programs are just the start. You'll find a range of additional programs here, including:
- Extended nursery hours for infants as young as 6 weeks old
- Full and half-day preschool options
- After-school programs for children 19 months and older
- Sitters
- Emergency services
- Social enrichment programs
(Be sure to check out all the details on how to sign up for these additional programs.)
Our Teachers
We strive to hire the most professional and experienced teachers for our Hoboken preschools and other academic programs. These are caring, dedicated individuals who have met (and exceeded) the necessary qualifications and passed a background check and health screening.
Our teachers understand how to use different teaching methods to engage different children, whether that's learning through play and exploration or using music and verbal communication.
Our Curriculum and Philosophy
At our Hoboken preschool, we use the Creative Curriculum to help our students reach their potential. This is an early childhood curriculum that uses projects to encourage their natural curiosity and help children apply their newly learned skills.
This allows each child to develop their social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language skills in a way that sticks with them. We also make sure they have the time they need to consolidate the information and reflect on everything they're learning.
Of course, "all work and no play" is not going to be the most engaging situation for most children. This is why our emergent teaching philosophy revolves around providing meaningful experiences for every student, which includes play and exploration.
Discover the Best Preschools and Daycare in Hoboken
Now is the perfect time to enroll your child in our Hoboken preschool or take advantage of our daycare services and after-school programs.
Ready to learn more?
Schedule a tour to come and see our facilities for yourself or simply request some more information to learn about how we help children grow and develop throughout these formative years.


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NSA Leaker Edward Snowden: Online at 11a.m.
This just in from Gennady Kolker, the senior press officer for The Guardian….
"Writing with a heads up that Edward Snowden — the whistleblower behind the biggest intelligence leak in NSA history — will be live online at 11am ET/4pm BST at guardiannews.com to answer reader questions about the NSA surveillance revelations. The Q&A will take place here. As he makes his way through the thread, we'll embed his replies as posts in the live blog. You can also follow along on Twitter using the hashtag #AskSnowden. We will re-publish the Q&A in full after the live chat has finished."


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New York Fashion Week brought us great designer shows but as always we had our beady eyes on the street fashion and what the fashion show-goers are wearing. We have looked on for the most popular trends and the military style is right up there. Army green, green khaki and camouflage print looks edgy, and perfect for the upcoming seasons.
What we have realised from watching our top fashion influencers in their military ensembles, is that the military style is so versitile. You can pair skinny army green pants with a chic blazer and casual tee. A camouflage jacket will look hip and stylish with pretty much anything from dresses to cropped pants. And green khaki tweed is fashionable — end of.
Our favorite fashionista DJ, Siobhan Bell looked so cool in a military windbreaker — unbuttoned low, gold jewelry and khaki military boots. She rounded off the outfit with a simple black baseball cap and chic bag. New York Fashion Week street style didnt end there. We saw casual army green jumpsuits with no extra flare, just worn simply. We saw thick green khaki shirts with the very best in costume jewelry and camo jackets paired with studded leather hats.
Zefinka bring you the trends. You make them your own.
Check out the best military outfits ideas from this years New York Fashion Week and how you can copy them right now. AND if you purchase anything in the store — post a selfie wearing your Zefinka purchases to any of our social media accounts with the #hashtag #ZefinkaOutfits and you could win your cash back.
Contact us on social media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zefinka/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zefinka/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/zefinka/pins
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From a long-term perspective, gold is a bargain at recent prices in the $900 to $930 an ounce . . . and will remain so even as it begins to move into a higher trading range.
Recent gold-market developments and technical price action – along with broader economic and financial-market developments – suggest gold is bracing for a resumption of its long march upward and a retest of its historic high in the months ahead.
First and foremost, the bullish outlook for gold rests on the increasing likelihood of accelerating U.S. inflation in the years to come – and an associated unprecedented rise in investor demand for the yellow metal.
This nascent inflation has not yet been reflecting in world financial markets. But, judging from anecdotal evidence and the financial press – and the warnings of a growing number of institutional investment managers – we believe a gradual, subtle, but important, upward shift in inflation expectations is already under way.
Inflation doves (and others fearing imminent deflation) point to the currently low, almost negligible, rates of consumer price inflation and the narrow interest-rate spread between ordinary US Treasury securities and US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) as evidence that inflation and inflation expectations remain subdued. This – along with other important factors that we'll discuss in subsequent posts – has helped keep gold prices down in recent months.
We think those looking at the US Consumer Price Index are focused on the wrong inflation indicator. Instead, a look at the gross domestic product price deflator, a broader, more reliable, and less volatile inflation indicator – rising at an annual rate of 2.9pc in this year's first quarter – should be enough to put fear in the hearts of economic policy-makers . . . but, as far as we can tell, they're looking at the CPI and still worrying more about deflation.
Importantly, in our view, if only a small percentage of investors become worried about inflation, gold could, and likely will, benefit long before any sign of a broad-based rise in inflation expectations appears in the interest-rate differential between ordinary Treasury securities and TIPS, the so-called TIPS spread.
Because of the relative size of the markets, a small shift of investor interest toward gold can have a magnified effect on the metal's price . . . but the same small shift in interest away from ordinary Treasury securities in favour of TIPS may have no noticeable impact on relative interest rates between the two types of securities.
Similarly, even a small reallocation of investment funds away from equities or corporate bonds or other "conventional" assets because of rising inflation or inflation expectations (or for any other reason) into gold may be a big deal for the gold market without producing much of a negative effect on other asset markets.
In other words, by the time the broad financial markets register a worsening of inflation expectations gold will have already made a major move to the upside. It provides an early warning or leading indicator of inflation, signalling the coming acceleration long before financial markets begin to quiver.
Fuel for the Fire
As sure as night follows day, the Federal Reserve's purchase of bonds and home mortgages and the resulting rapid increase in bank reserves (quantitative easing in Fed-speak) – unless soon reversed – is underwriting a coming acceleration of inflation.
And, with a consensus in Washington and around the country that the quickly expanding Federal government deficit should be financed by central bank purchases of Treasury securities, there seems little likelihood that quantitative easing will be replaced with quantitative tightening until well after inflation has accelerated to disturbingly high rates.
President Obama's own Office of Management and the Budget (OMB) now estimates a Federal budget deficit of $1.84 trillion for the current fiscal year ending September 30. This is equivalent to 12.9pc of the overall economy or gross domestic product – and, by this measure, the biggest deficit since World War Two. Early estimates for next year put the deficit at 8.5pc of GDP.
Many economists generally consider that a country's deficit should not exceed three pc of GDP. Whatever the appropriate ratio, for sure this year and next, the Federal government deficits will remain beyond the norm and will require massive Federal Reserve purchases of Treasury securities in order that interest rates remain low enough to accommodate economic recovery.
Jeffrey Nichols, is managing director of New York-based American Precious Metals Advisors


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Posts Tagged 'No Condemnation'
Who is the Weak Believer?
Who Is The Weak Believer?
© 10/6/2016 C. O. Bishop THCF 10/9/2016
Romans 14:1-23
Weak believers—"Who is who?"
As we read Romans chapter 14 there are three main questions to ask:
- What constitutes a "weak" believer, versus a "strong" believer?
- How is each to treat the other?
- What are we going to do about it?
1Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
"Him that is 'weak in the faith', receive ye." The writer assumes that the reader is not the one who is weak, but specifies that the reader is to be receptive toward those who are. We all want to think that "We are the strong believers!" That is because we are vain, self-centered people. We all want to think that we are right. But how can we tell "who is who?" Everyone has a right to their own opinion, right? But, maybe we need to find out what God says about the matter.
What Constitutes a "Weak" Believer?
Paul then goes on to say that the one who is unnecessarily limited in his choices because of his poor understanding of scripture is the weak one, while the one who is liberated by his faith is the strong one, but that neither has the right to disrespect or condemn the other. This presupposes that the things in question are not elsewhere forbidden. For example, Idolatry, Murder, Theft, Lying, and Adultery are always condemned. Such things are not a part of this discussion. This is about things not condemned by God, but which are frequently condemned by humans. The first thing he addresses is vegetarianism.
2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. (Vegetables.)
The strong one believes he is free to eat any food…the restricted one, who thinks somehow he is forbidden to eat meat, is weak in his faith (probably untaught, thereby ill-equipped), and would be guilty (at least in his own mind) if he violated his understanding of God's Word by eating meat (mistaken though he is.)
How is Each to Treat the Other?
"For God hath Received Him"
3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
The one who is free in his faith is not to look down his nose at the one who is limited…on the other hand, the one who is limited must realize that he himself is not the judge, and that he must not condemn the one who is enjoying his freedom in Christ. One's position in Christ is what makes one acceptable to God…not what one eats or doesn't eat.
But, how is one "received by God?" Ephesians 1:6 states that we have been "…made accepted in the Beloved." The key, there, is that I am accepted in Him! I was placed in Him by the Holy Spirit at the moment I trusted Jesus as my Savior (1st Corinthians 12:13); the moment I believed that His blood at the Cross was the sacrifice for my sins. I have no other standing before God. I am either accepted in the Beloved, or not at all. And, if I am accepted in the Beloved, and in fellowship with Him, then nothing else really matters, does it? And yet, we tend to reject one another over some pretty petty stuff. Perhaps we need to ask some questions of ourselves:
Who is the Master, here, anyway?
4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
So, while he is on the subject of judgment, Paul points out that each believer is personally accountable to God. We are not to judge God's servants…God can handle them. If it is not something expressly forbidden by scripture, then we have no authority to criticize, let alone condemn or attempt to control other believers.
5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Paul raises another example—he refers to the keeping of holy days: probably specifically the Sabbath was in mind, but, obviously, it could include all the Jewish feast days. And, again, he states that the one who observes a holy day before the Lord has not done wrong…and the one who sees all days as holy to God, and treats them all pretty much the same, is well within his rights as well. In both examples, both believers are fully able to enjoy their fellowship with God, and give thanks…and other believers are not to interfere with them.
7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Verses 7-12 reiterate that we believers are not "free moral agents," so to speak…we are each accountable to God. Our life and death are all under his authority, and in everything we give account to Him….So Paul asks the question, again, "Why do you feel free to judge a brother?" (With the context making it clear that this is concerning things NOT forbidden by God….) We will all give account to God at the Judgment Seat of Christ…not for sins, but for works.
Paul concludes that rather than judge each other for things in which we have freedom, we should take care that we do not use our freedom carelessly, in such a way as to cause another believer to sin. Yes, the truth is, they have the same freedom we have, but if they are not convinced of that and simply "go along" with our freedom when they still think it is wrong, then we have caused them to sin. They have violated their own conscience, but at our insistence.
What about Conscience? Is it Infallible?
My father, in his junior year in college, had his chemistry book stolen from him. He had left it on the porch, outside the cafeteria, and someone took it during lunch. He hadn't any extra money, so, for the rest of the term, he was forced to borrow other students' textbooks, in order to complete his homework. They kept urging him to "just steal someone else's book"; but he knew it was wrong, and refused to do it.
The problem came to a head, though, near the end of the semester: he still could not afford a new book, and as final exams drew near, his friends could no longer lend him a book, because they needed the book themselves. So, unable to replace the book, and desperately needing one, he finally succumbed to the peer pressure: when he saw a chemistry book just like his, sitting outside the cafeteria, he grabbed it, shoved it under his sweater, and hurried home, feeling exceedingly guilty; like a criminal, in fact, because he had violated his conscience. He had stolen a book!
And, he was guilty—that is why he "felt guilty"—he had violated his conscience! But when he got back to his room, he discovered that he had stolen back his own book; the original thief had finally gotten careless and left the book on the cafeteria porch, just as Dad had done. Was Dad any less guilty? Nope. He truly had violated his conscience. He was very angry, then, and wanted to go back and find out who the thief had been. But it was too late. He rationalized his own theft, and was relieved that it turned out to be his own book…but he was still wrong.
Now: Were his fellow-students right, in urging him to steal? Of course they were not! They were clearly encouraging wrong behavior; urging him to sin. Was he wrong to retrieve his own book? Nope! That was not the issue! He thought he was stealing someone else's book: that is why he was guilty.
So, let's take that principle a step further: Paul says that if a person thinks it is wrong to eat meat, then, until God enlightens them further, it is wrong for them. But you have no right to criticize them for that position, though you know they are mistaken.
A Word to the Weak:
Let me "put the shoe on the other foot," for a moment: let's say you are the one who thinks it is wrong to eat meat…or something else that God does not condemn. Is it OK for you to use this passage to bully your meat-eating brother and say that he has to not eat meat, because it offends you? I don't think so! You are clearly commanded in verses 3, 4 and 10 to leave each other alone in such matters. Allow God to work in the other fellow's heart, as well as in your own. On the contrary, we each need to consciously look for ways to not cause another believer grief in their relationship with God. So, how do we deal with such differences? That is our final question:
What Are We Going to Do About It?
No More Judging: and No More Pressure.
Paul recognized that such behavior is common. He told them to knock it off!
13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
This issue of "stumbling" means to "cause someone else to sin": it does not mean that I can bash someone else because I don't care for their taste in shoes, or the way they part their hair. So, while we are to look for ways to not cause others to "fall", we are also not to go around trying to control other believers by saying "Your hair-do offends me!" (Or something equally foolish)… there is no way that someone else's hair-do is "causing you to sin!"
I had a fellow take me aside when I was in Bible school and tell me that my shoes offended him. They were odd-looking, oversized shoes, (though brand new) and happened to be literally all I had to wear. I had found them on a clearance table in a mall for $7, and I was grateful to have them. Were my shoes causing him to sin? No! He was just condemning me for wearing them.
14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
If we convince someone else to do something because we know it is right, when the reason they are resisting is because they think it is wrong, then we cause them to sin. Don't make a big deal out of peripheral things that have nothing to do with Christ; Paul says that the kingdom of God is not about food and drink, but about Righteousness and Peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit. These are the key issues we should be looking for in our own lives.
Each of these has two aspects: the one God provides (imputed to us by Grace), and the one with which we respond (and demonstrate and experience), via the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
- Righteousness:
- Imputed: (Romans 4:3) "…Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him as Righteousness." That is how we receive Righteousness, too! When you place your faith in the shed blood of Jesus, His righteousness is applied to your account, and you eternally stand before God in the Righteousness of Christ.
- Demonstrated: (Hebrews 11:8-10) Abraham believed God, and it caused him to live a life of obedience to God. He had his failures, but God holds him up as an example of faith-driven righteousness.
- Peace:
- Imputed: (Romans 5:1) "Being therefore Justified (declared Righteous) by faith, we have Peace with God." We are to first find peace with God, through faith in Jesus' blood, and then, daily seek the Peace of God.
- Demonstrated: (Philippians 4:6, 7) " 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." We choose the Peace of God by faith. We obey by faith, and leave our griefs with Him. (See also, 1st Peter 5:7)
- Joy in the Holy Ghost:
- Imputed: (Galatians 5:22, 23) "…the Fruit (singular) of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace…" The Holy Spirit is the source of all Joy in a believer's life. Joy has been conferred upon us by God, in the person of the Holy Spirit. He indwells us and will never leave. (John 14:16)
- Demonstrated: (same passage) The Holy Spirit is the source of the Joy of God, in all cases. We demonstrate, experience, and display Joy in our lives only when we are in fellowship with God and walking in obedience with Him. (1st John 1:7) In fact, a lack of joy and peace is an important clue that we are not walking with Him.
- Please do not confuse Joy with Happiness. They are not the same. The circumstances may be severe enough to preclude happiness (the cross for instance) but Joy is still possible ("…Jesus…who, for the Joy that was set before Him, endured the Cross…" Hebrews 12:2)
If we possess (and experience, and display) those three things, we are in fellowship with God, and will be (usually) accepted by those around us, as they see the reality of Christ in us. So, that is where we need to put our priorities…not on the outward things that are of no eternal value, but on the inward things that make for peace, and by which we can build up one another in the faith.
20 For meat (food) destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
v.20-22. Paul reiterates that we do have freedom, but that we are not to use our freedom in such a way as to cause our brothers or sisters to sin. We can exercise our freedom privately, and not cause someone else to stumble.
When a vegetarian friend or relative comes to our home for a visit, we simply have vegetarian meals, so that they are not forced to "choose". Sometimes people have medically-mandated dietary restrictions that are so limiting that they simply cannot eat what everyone else does. (We have a niece who has to completely avoid gluten, for example.) But they have no thought or feeling that this is a moral issue; it is simply a practical necessity. In that case we try to prepare a separate, attractive, and tasty meal for that individual as well, so they can eat with everyone else, and be included, but not be affected badly by eating something they can't handle. We seek to be a blessing, not a stumbling block to those around us.
23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
v. 23 is the key verse to the whole subject—he says that one who partakes in an activity that is not forbidden by God when he thinks that it is forbidden, is condemned by his own conscience, because he did not act according to faith. (John 5:24 says we are not condemned by God…and never will be.)
The Conclusion:
"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (This is one of the four definitions of sin, given in the epistles: the others are 1st John 3:4 "Sin is the transgression of the Law"; 1st John 5:17 "all unrighteousness is sin…" and James 4:17 "…to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is Sin") Romans 14:23 wraps it all up: "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin!"
Don't attempt to "bully" others into your own way of thinking, when there is no clear mandate, and especially, if it is a peripheral issue; not a cardinal doctrine. Learn to appreciate your fellow believers for their position in Christ, and not condemn them because they aren't "just like you!"
Receive the three cardinal values of the kingdom of God (Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit), and practice reflecting those three in your life. That will go far toward building good relations with those around you.
Learn to Love the brethren; Learn to walk with God.
Lord Jesus, we are accepted before God because of your sacrifice at the Cross. Cleanse our hearts and help us to love one another as you have loved us, and accept one another as you have accepted us. Fill us with your Righteousness, your Peace, and your Joy, as we learn to walk daily with you.
No Condemnation (Part One)
No Condemnation (Part One)
© C. O. Bishop 12/25/15 THCF 12/27/15
Romans 8:1-4
We have taken a bit of a guided tour through Romans over the last several months: We saw in the first five chapters the utter bankruptcy and lostness of the human race, contrasted against the Grace of God freely offered through the person of Christ. We saw that we are to enter into that Grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus as being the full payment for our sins.
We saw that upon our placing our faith in His shed blood, his complete righteousness was posted to our account as a believer, so that we are no longer seen as bankrupt, but as fully solvent in Christ, and completely righteous in Him.
We saw that because of that transaction at the Cross, we are no longer seen as enemies, but rather that we are at Peace with God, and, more importantly, He is at peace with us.
In chapters six and seven we saw that we no longer have to sin…we have a genuine choice available to us because we have a genuine new nature. The old nature is still present, but no longer holds any authority. It has not only lost its authority, but it has lost its identity, as God no longer sees our old sin nature (frequently called the "flesh" in scripture, but not to be confused with tone's physical body) as the "real" person. He will only address Himself to the new nature, sometimes called the New Man, and sometimes the "mind" or the "spirit", (not to be confused with the Holy Spirit.) We finally saw the results (chapter 7) when a genuine believer earnestly attempts to live the Christian life in His own strength.
The trilogy of Romans 6, 7 and 8, then, is completed with 12 "layers" of truths in chapter eight:
- There is no condemnation to those in Christ.
- Those in Christ are free from the Law of Sin and Death.
- Those in Christ are responsible to walk in Him.
- Only those in Him can walk in Him.
- Only the Holy Spirit can do the walking.
- Only saved people have the Holy Spirit…and, conversely, if you do not have the Spirit, you aren't
- The Flesh cannot be subject to God, so it cannot please God.
- The Flesh is always an agent of death, whether physical or spiritual…always remembering that "death", in scripture, is always some sort of separation, whether spiritual or physical, and whether temporary or eternal.
- Those who are indwelt by the Spirit of God are already the Sons of God, and, because of that we are joint-heirs (not co-heirs) with Christ.
- At the "adoption" (Greek "huiothesis") we will be recognized (publicly) as the heirs of God, and, at that point, too, the Earth will be freed from its bondage…when we receive our new bodies.
- We cannot be separated from God, because we cannot be separated from the love of God which is in Christ.
- We cannot separate ourselves from His love, because He specifies that "no created thing" can separate us from Him…and we are, by definition, a "created thing".
I don't think it would be profitable to try to cover all of these twelve layers of teaching in one service; partly because we would have to rush, and partly because it does not give the hearer the necessary time to think things over. There is a great deal here upon.which to meditate
So, let's see how far we can get:
No Condemnation:
This is one of the most important foundational truths for the believer in terms of confidence, peace, and functionality. If you do not grasp the central truth of your security in Christ then you cannot serve effectively because you will be constantly looking back to see if your salvation is still safe.
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
This comment alone has generated more arguments among evangelical Christians than most of the rest of the Bible. Some see it as a dangerous teaching that will be misused to produce licentiousness. And that is true. Any valuable tool or privilege can be misused. A hammer (or a pair of scissors, etc.) can be used as a weapon; that does not mean that people should not have hammers or scissors. It means that we have to use responsibly the gifts and tools that God has given us. That same principle applies across all levels of truth. The fact that truth can be misused does not negate its truth…it simply means that responsibility goes along with truth.
Let's examine both the truth and the responsibility that accompanies it.
How sure am I (and why am I so sure) that I am secure in Christ? It is clearly stated in many passages that offer no qualifiers. It is the key theme of this particular chapter, and is stated by Jesus personally, in passages where no conditions were added to modify the promise.
John 10:27, 28 is a fairly important passage. He says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish." Notice that he did not say, "IF they follow me, I will give them eternal life"…he said "…they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." I have many times heard someone protest, "well, yes, but you can jump out!" No…because, in the first place, if you could "jump out", then the central promise to this passage ("They shall never perish!") would be untrue.
Also (again Jesus is speaking), in John 6:37-39, Jesus promised "all that the Father hath given me shall come to me, and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. For I came not down from heaven to do my own will but the will of Him that sent me, And this is my Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." Let's think that one through:
- All that the Father has given to Jesus will come to him. He won't fail to find them.
- No one who comes to Jesus will ever be cast out…ever.
- God's specific will regarding all those given to Jesus is that Jesus will never lose one of them, but that
- They will be raised up at the last day.
That is pretty specific. There are no honest ways to refute the promise. Sometimes people try to bring up counter-examples:
- Judas Iscariot (He was never saved to begin with—Jesus himself said so. John 13:10, 11)
- Ananias and Sapphira (they lost their physical lives—there is no evidence that their eternal destiny was involved.)
- Samson seems a "poster-child" for an unfaithful believer, if you only read his history. But when we read God's commentary on him, we find him in Hebrews 11:32, listed by name under God's "hall of fame" for faith. Many other such examples exist, but the point is that we need to believe God's promise, not keep trying to find loopholes.
One thing we don't want to overlook is the second half of verse one: "…who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit". There are those who argue that this half of the verse is a copyist error, and that it is only supposed to be in verse four, not verse one. But let's set that argument aside: What would it say if we knew for sure that it should be in both places?
Looking back at Chapter seven we see that Paul concluded that a "disconnect" had occurred between his old sin nature and his new righteous nature: that the old man, the flesh, was no longer him. Does that shed any light on the subject? Who is it that verse one promises will not be condemned? The old man or the new? The old man is already condemned, and irrevocably so: even God couldn't save it or change it. The new man is created in the likeness of God to the extent that it is completely righteous and holy, just like Him (Ephesians 4:22, 24).
Do you suppose he may be simply reiterating the separation between old and new, here? God does judge sins…and he judges sinners, if they cling to their sins. The moment you trusted Jesus as your savior, your sins were judged at the Cross, and you gained a new nature, so that the Lord will never again see you as a sinner. Will you see yourself as a sinner? Actually, I rather hope that you do—Paul saw himself that way.
Paul said (1st Timothy 1:15), "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; among whom I am chief." (Greek protos eimi ego: Not "was", but "am!" Jesus used nearly the same construction when he said [John 14:6] "I am the way, the Truth, and the Life…", and Paul used exactly the same construction when he said [Romans 11:13] "I am the apostle to the Gentiles.") It is interesting, too, to realize that of all the apostles, and all the potential people who might say such a thing about themselves, Paul is the only one through whom the Holy Spirit elected to say such a thing…and he said it three times, in so many words. ("To me, who am less than the least of all saints…"; "not worthy to be called an apostle…"—these words are not just Paul's "emotional outlook".
Peter might have possibly said such a thing in his own private grief at having denied the Lord, but in his epistles there is not a trace of that. Paul, who arguably is the one who laid the foundation of the entire Gentile church, is the one through whom the Holy Spirit made all three of those statements… about Paul, no one else. So, while I think it is fine for me to soberly look at myself and say, "I am a sinner, saved by grace!", it is not OK for me to declare myself the "worst of sinners" or anything similar, because Paul already holds that title. That is what it says. I do not claim to understand it, but there is no question that it is what it says.
So, those who "walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit" includes all believers. God has permanently separated you from your sins.
Set Free from the Law of Sin and Death
The next thing Paul states is that he has been made free from the Law of Sin and Death.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Notice the tense in this verse: does he say that the Spirit will make him free? No, he says that the law of the Spirit has made him free from the Law of sin and Death… past tense! So, what does that mean? What is the Law of Sin and Death, anyway? Is it the same as the Law of Moses?
I think that the Law of Moses could certainly be included, because, as you recall, the Law of Moses certainly called for death to the disobedient. But the "Law of sin and death" goes back even further: In Genesis 2:17, God warned Adam, "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." There is the first iteration of the Law of sin and death. "If you break the Law you will die". That is the central theme of Law. Notice that there were no "safeguards" set up—no invisible fences or anything similar. They broke the Law, and died spiritually the moment Adam ate that fruit. 3,500 years later, God re-stated the principle: Ezekiel 18:4 says "the soul that sinneth, it shall die."
So, in what way have I (past tense) been set free from this ancient principle? I can see that the Law of sin and death recognized me as someone who should be put to death. But, according to Galatians 2:19, "I, through the Law, am dead to the Law, that I might live unto God." Jesus fulfilled the Law for Himself by living it perfectly. He fulfilled the Law for me by dying in my place. Now I am free, not because the Law has changed, but because it is satisfied regarding my sin. I am dead!
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
That is what Jesus accomplished through His perfect life and substitutionary death. He deposited His righteousness to our accounts by His perfect life, and took our sin in his vicarious, substitutionary death. The Law made no provision for such a thing. The Law of the substitute was there, to be sure, but in very limited form. The Kinsman redeemer was there, but only to a certain extent. Jesus fulfilled all the promises of God for a redeemer and a savior, and a perfect sacrifice that takes away sin, rather than temporarily covering it.
What Should be the Result in Our Lives?
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
We are alive to God, and He wants us to respond to His Grace by allowing Him to live through us, and demonstrate His righteousness in us. For what cause? To keep us from going to hell? No, to glorify God in our bodies, and to keep others out of hell. Jesus said that we were to let our light shine in such a way that others will see our good works and not glorify us, but glorify our Father in Heaven! Our good works are part of the Christian life, but they are not part of how we are saved, nor part of how we are kept safe. They are part of our testimony and part of our worship: part of how we honor God with our lives. All the saving and keeping is done by Jesus.
But, What if We Fail?
Are there consequences for disobedience? Of course there are…but they still do not negate the promises we just read. My salvation and my security in Christ are entirely His responsibility, not mine. I could do nothing to save myself, and I can do nothing to stay saved. But I want my life to count for eternity: I want to honor God with my life. I do not always succeed in that. Many times I fail: If you don't believe me, just ask my family.
But we are told to confess that we have failed, and get up and walk again. We are just as secure when we are wallowing in sin and self-pity or self-righteousness, as when we are soberly, joyfully, honestly walking with God…but we will not be aware of it, nor happy about it. 1st John 1:9 is not just a statement of fact, or even a command, it is a precious promise. We can be restored to fellowship and joyful service!
Make it a priority in your life to go back over chapters 6, 7 and 8 until the lesson sinks in and you can apply it to yourself. That is what I am having to do as I teach through these passages.
Lord Jesus, make us able ministers of your Word, and teach us to place our faith in your divine safekeeping, so that we are not constantly working to make ourselves better, but to make your name shine before those who don't know you. Shape us into the Men and Women of God that you have chosen us to be.


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Jones Seminar: Why Johnny and Janie Can't Code Safely—Bringing Software Assurance to the Masses
Barton Miller, Professor of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Friday, May 17, 2019, 3:30–4:30pm
Rm. 100 (Spanos Auditorium), Cummings Hall
While academia and industry are furiously working on techniques to reduce the number of vulnerabilities in software, we continue to get slammed by exploit after exploit. The reasons for this situation are myriad, ranging from lack of training, awareness, and economic incentives on the part of the developers; complex and only partially useful tools from the assurance tool community; legal barriers to transparency in reporting of software problems and describing the quality of software assurance tools; a confusing regulatory landscape with few standards; and a lack of effective curriculum at most universities for students learning software skills.
As a step towards improving the state of software assurance tools in the marketplace and increasing the adoption of software assurance practices by programmers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security funded a multi-year project to establish the Software Assurance Marketplace (SWAMP). The core service of the SWAMP is an open (free) facility where programmers can bring their software to be run against a large suite of both commercial and open source assessment tools. I will provide a brief description of the SWAMP and how you can use it in your research project, class, or product development.
A further step in software security is conducting in-depth vulnerability assessments. I will describe our more-than-a-decade of experience of developing a methodology for such assessments and conducting many real-world assessments of software systems. Over time, we have reframed the software security problem, influencing the way that we assess systems. In this formulation, we have shifted our focus from protecting the assets or confidentiality of data to the mission continuity (or what the Navy calls "fighting forward").
As part of this in-depth assessment activity, we have recently moved into an area of critical global security, maritime shipping, and applied our vulnerability assessment techniques to software in that area, resulting in major security improvements to that sector. Global container shipping is responsible for 90% of the world's commerce and is highly computerized, following a complex network of government and commercial intermediaries. Interrupting service at just one port can cost billions of dollars per day in direct loss. Previously, there have been extensive studies of the risks involved in shipping, but never an actual evaluation of real threats and vulnerabilities. We are the first group to conduct such a vulnerabilities assessment of operational software, resulting in the identification of serious vulnerabilities (a scary situation) and development of remediations for those vulnerabilities (hopefully reducing the fright).
Last, I will discuss some legal hazards that prevent us from reporting many vulnerabilities and, even more problematic, reporting on the quality and capabilities of the commercial assessments tools that we need to help secure our software.
About the Speaker
Barton Miller is the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, and Amar & Belinder Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also Chief Scientist for the DHS Software Assurance Marketplace (SWAMP) research facility, leads the software assurance effort for the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (TrustedCI), and co-directs the MIST software vulnerability assessment project in collaboration with his colleagues at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He also leads the Paradyn Parallel Performance Tool project, which is investigating performance and instrumentation technologies for parallel and distributed applications and systems. His research interests include systems security, binary and malicious code analysis and instrumentation extreme scale systems, parallel and distributed program measurement and debugging, and mobile computing. Miller's research is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, NATO, and various corporations.
In 1988, Miller founded the field of Fuzz random software testing, which is the foundation of many security and software engineering disciplines. In 1992, Miller (working with his then-student, Prof. Jeffrey Hollingsworth), founded the field of dynamic binary code instrumentation and coined the term "dynamic instrumentation". Dynamic instrumentation forms the basis for his current efforts in malware analysis and instrumentation.
Miller was the chair of the IDA Center for Computing Sciences Program Review Committee, a member of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Computing, Communications and Networking Division Review Committee, and has been on the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force (Chicago Area). Miller is a Fellow of the ACM.
For more information, contact Marge Heggison at email@example.com.


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