Civil asset forfeiture laws are routinely abused in the U.S. by state and local law enforcement departments (and the feds) as a means of "enhancing" their revenue streams.
Steve Lehto, a Michigan lawyer who covers this and other issues on his YouTube channel, talks about a veteran who was essentially robbed by Nevada troopers of his life savings while he was driving through the state to visit his daughters in California.
Update The story has a (modified) happy ending: the man got his money back, but only after his situation received extensive national coverage. He also took legal action. I believe his suit against the federal government was eventually thrown out, but his case against the Nevada State Patrol is ongoing, and he did win a significant case at the Nevada Supreme Court level, which gave him standing to sue.
The story's a year old but I wonder how many times it's happened since then. When we were on our four-month RV road trip, I had a substantial amount of cash stashed away (not nearly $86K, though) for emergencies, and I often thought about what would happen if we got stopped for some reason and searched for cash, because I had heard of these stories. They can take your vehicle, your house, everything you own just by accusing you of drug-dealing without probable cause.
ReplyDeleteThe proliferation of no knock raids and this crap are a scourge on our nation.
ReplyDeleteFederal civil asset forfeiture law requires proof under the civil standard that the asset was derived from specified criminal activity. If the government fails to satisfy its burden of proof, the asset will be returned to the owner. Many people confuse "seizure" with "forfeiture." A failed forfeiture may result in payment of legal fees expended to recover the asset as well as damages for the unfounded seizure. My experience was that abuse of forfeiture law almost always occurred at the local level where it was often used as a funding measure. At the federal level it was used, for example, to strip a criminal who was beyond the jurisdiction of the court of having the benefit of his illicitly obtained assets. To prevent even the appearance of abuse, my supervisor would not permit us to file a civil action without a concurrent criminal indictment, except in unusual cases. The objective was always to prevent a criminal from enjoying the fruits of his crime. At least that's how we did it in the Jurassic Age when I was prosecuting federal cases.
ReplyDeleteJust a reminder that they have many ways to screw you over.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Nashville Beat for the additional info.
NB: Yes, my sense has always been that most of the problems were at the state and local levels, featuring ignorant/overzealous cops, typically in an environment in which the governments in question were viewing this as a source of extra income.
ReplyDeleteI can just imagine deciding to move across country, and getting stopped by, say, the Arkansas Highway Patrol, while hauling a trailer full of my, er, Hummel figurines and the odd two dozen or so interesting coins.
ReplyDeleteI used to drive through PA on my way from DC to NY if I was bringing a gun.
ReplyDeleteNJ would confiscate your legal property, that was legally being transported, and it would take years and many trips to NJ and mucho lawyer fees to get your legal property back.
That I wouldn't trust them not to "lose" or just ruin.
You'd be lucky if NJ didn't jail you, as well.
ReplyDeleteEvery now & then I see a story that makes me understand why IRA used to hide behind hedges & shoot policemen who rode by on a bicycle.
ReplyDeleteThere's never a BLM sniper around when one is needed.