Time to Change Course: Stop Letting Police Seize Property from Innocent People

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Heritage Foundation:

“[Civil Asset Forfeiture] should be abolished.”

 

That’s the considered opinion of the two men — John Yoder and Brad Cates — who, in the 1980s, oversaw the development of federal civil asset forfeiture as a tool to combat organized crime and the drug trade.

 

Forfeiture does not apply to organized crime or drug crimes alone; some 200 other crimes now render individuals’ property subject to seizure.

 

At the time, forfeiture seemed eminently reasonable. Drug kingpins were making millions from criminal enterprises that banked on addiction and suffering. Whether because they lacked enough evidence to convict kingpins or for tactical reasons, law enforcement officers settled for hitting them in the wallet by seizing money and property traceable to illegal activity.

 

But three decades later, asset forfeiture’s biggest targets aren’t kingpins; it’s the cash found during routine traffic stops for small-time infractions. As Yoder and Cates point out, forfeiture does not apply to organized crime or drug crimes alone; some 200 other crimes now render individuals’ property subject to seizure.

 

And most troubling of all, in most states and under federal rules, a citizen’s cash, car and other property can be taken without law enforcement having to charge or convict the owner of a crime. In fact, to get property returned, owners usually have to prove their innocence.

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This Man Had $75K Legally Stolen From Him By a Sheriff’s Deputy

 

Ming Ton Liu’s story highlights the problems with civil asset forfeiture.

 

Liu, a Chinese-born American citizen, had $75,195 seized from him by a sheriff’s deputy at a traffic stop last year—and he was never charged with any crime!. Using civil asset forfeiture, law enforcement officials can seize cash or other property they believe is related to a crime.

 

Liu planned to use the money to purchase a restaurant, but the deal fell through because it took him ten months to get his money back from the police.

 

USA Today highlighted Liu’s story in an editorial last week. “Civil asset forfeiture is government at its absolute worst — intimidating helpless citizens for its own benefit,” stated the editorial. “It needs to go away.”

 

USA Today is right: state and federal forfeiture laws need to be reformed.

http://dailysignal.com/2014/11/25/man-75k-legally-stolen-sheriffs-deputy/