Policing for Profit - The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture

Learn more at http://www.ij.org/PolicingForProfit

Civil forfeiture laws represent one of the most serious assaults on private property rights in the nation today. With civil forfeiture, police and prosecutors can seize your property and use it to fund their budgets—all without charging you with a crime. Americans are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but with civil forfeiture, your property is guilty until you prove it innocent—and law enforcement has a huge incentive to police for profit, not justice.

If police suspect that you committed a crime, they can arrest you and put you on trial. At that trial, prosecutors must prove you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

But if police suspect your car was involved in a crime, they can take it, sell it and, in most places, pocket the proceeds to pad their budgets. They need not prove you committed any crime—or even arrest you—to take your property away.

Welcome to the upside-down world of civil asset forfeiture.
With civil forfeiture, your property is guilty until you prove it innocent to get it back.

And because most state and federal laws allow police and prosecutors to pocket the proceeds, they have a big incentive to pursue profits, not justice.

How big? In 1986, the Justice Departments forfeiture fund took in 94 million dollars. Now it has more than a billion. State and local agencies receive forfeiture funds, too—but we don't know how much because most states don't publicly report on forfeiture.

No surprise—abuse is rampant. One New York police department spent forfeiture funds on food, gifts and entertainment. In Georgia, forfeiture funds paid for football tickets for a DAs office. In Louisiana, cops used funds to pay for ski trips to Aspen. And a DA in Texas used forfeiture dollars to buy TV ads for his re-election campaign.

Meanwhile, citizens are seeing cash, cars and other property taken away for the flimsiest of reasons. Carrying too much cash? Police can accuse you of selling drugs or laundering money and seize it, no conviction or even arrest required.

An Institute for Justice study grades state laws on how well they protect people from wrongful forfeitures. Only three states receive a B or better. The rest range from mediocre to awful—and so does federal law.

Worse, a federal legal loophole allows police and prosecutors to bypass state protections and keep pocketing forfeiture money. IJ's research shows that the easier and more profitable these laws make forfeiture, the more it is used and abused.

Its time to end civil forfeiture. People shouldn't have their property taken away without being convicted of a crime. And law enforcement shouldn't be policing for profit

Learn more at http://www.ij.org/PolicingForProfit

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[ineedmycar]

Border Patrol in San Clemente, CA Seized my car. My son borrowed my car to help a classmate move furniture last week. The car was stopped by BP and they tell me one of the passengers was found to be carrying a small amount of medical marijuana along with a CA medical marijuana registration card. They released all three men without charges, but seized my car.

They cite a law meant to deprive criminals of means to conduct criminal activities. No criminals here. How can they keep my car?

[InstituteForJustice]

@ineedmycar you can visit IJ's website at IJ dot org /about/2072 to fill out potential case form.

[UtherPendragan]

Its all about the drugs. Drug dealers are the reason people don't get mad as hell about this. Everyone assumes its a really bad guy whos rights are being violated so they don't care. The same thing is true about men being raped in prison, everyone ignores it because its prison. If people think your a scumbag they don't care about your rights, they fail to realize that you can only protect yours by protecting everyones.

[nomoreserfs]

@GoldenDragon214 How dare you bring up the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Why you may be a terrorist for advocating liberty and the rule of law. Don't steal, government hates competition.

[areuter727]

Anyone involved in asset forfeiture abuse should be curb stomped "American History X" style.

[MikeandKayla09]

Dont be carrying to much cash put it on a card dont Händel drugs the tax pagers day for the gas instead of important equipment they just do there kind wholes police aré not crooks u aré the men Who put there life down for u aré heros not crooks

[UVDan]

@seventyfive1

Beware of Democrats and Republicans. They are all PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS. Millionaires and Lawyers looking to screw over the average American in order to support BIG BUSINESS. The true patriot is not the man who defends a corrupt government. The true patriot defends the Constitution.

[heartfire451]

With all the evil our government is involved in, what I can't believe is that there is anyone who still supports it's wars or any of it's policies or laws. Our governments both State and federal and often local have become pure evil and I do truly mean pure satanic evil.

[Helionaeic]

@fuzzmew Nah, don't use violence, that is their game. Rather, we have to start breaking their rules peacefully. Just hang on awhile longer. What is happening in Greece and Egypt and Syria will come here. When there are hundreds of thousands of people breaking the rules, they won't be able to do anything about it because they'll be broke.

[fuzzmew]

@Helionaeic How do I get even? Burn down his house? Steal my car back? Steal his car? Steal his money? Sorry I stink at guessing but I am not sure where to start. Thanks.

[FlowCell]

This is Privateering, pure and simple.

[Grey13Human]

America. Home of the brave and land of the free.

[seventyfive1]

Thank God for the Democrats.  I am totally voting for Obama again. The best way to get this kind of thing under control is to change our country to have a bigger and more powerful government.

[OpiatedBliss]

You tell 'em Skeeter!