Asset-forfeiture reform needed

Michigan has made improvements to its civil asset-forfeiture laws in the past year. But the best solution remains to get rid of the policy in cases in which there has been no criminal conviction.

As the US federal government wrongly looks to make it even easier to seize citizens’ property, the state should push in the opposite direction.

Specifically, it should be illegal for law enforcement to take and keep property from a person who has not been convicted of a crime.

Thanks to new reporting requirements enacted into law in Michigan, it has become clear just how abusive the state’s asset-forfeiture laws are.

The latest report from the Michigan department of state police shows that in 2016, charges were never filed in nearly 10% of the cases that collected more than $15m in forfeited cash and property.

Michigan police departments have used civil-asset forfeiture to seize more than $244m in assets over the past 13 years.

State, county and local agencies documented 5,290 civil-asset forfeitures. But no one was charged with a crime in 523 of those instances. In another 196 cases, people were charged but not convicted.

That is outrageous. But when there is an incentive — under Michigan’s forfeiture laws, police get to keep 100% of what they confiscate — those numbers are hardly a surprise. The practice is ripe for abuse.

Legislation is pending that would require a criminal conviction to initiate forfeiture proceedings. That would shift the seizure standard from “clear and convincing evidence” to the “beyond reasonable doubt” required to convict someone under criminal law.

Asset forfeiture absolutely undermines the rule of law. The US constitution explicitly prohibits the government from taking property without due process. Detroit, August 2.