The whole "they're fishing for cash" is missing the point. They're fishing for literally anything. They don't care whether it's cash, drugs, paperwork violati

The whole "they're fishing for cash" is missing the point. They're fishing for literally anything. They don't care whether it's cash, drugs, paperwork violations. It's all money in state coffers at the end of the day. It just makes the news when they seize some sympathetic person's cash. You don't hear about all the innocent people who get railroaded on DUI charges and come out $10k poorer because of it (I specifically use this example because many states and municipalities have had scandals to this tune). The fact that the cash seizures are blatantly unconstitutional just makes them marketable to the public but the root problem is that the police (as organizations more than individuals) see the public as people who's pockets ought to be lightened and they have no moral qualms about engaging in "scummy but legal" means to do so.