Feds give police an easier way to take property without arrests

A federal policy announced Wednesday makes it easier for police to take people’s property without charging them with a crime, superceding a Florida law banning it.

It’s called civil asset forfeiture, and it allows police to take any property they believe might be used in a crime.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the reversal of an Obama-era policy that restricted the instances in which state and local law enforcement could seize property under federal law and give the property to federal law enforcement agencies, splitting with the feds the value

of the property.

In 2016, the Florida Legislature unanimously passed a law banning police from taking people’s property under most circumstances unless they are charged with a crime.

Now, local and state agencies will be able to ignore the state law and seize property under federal law, passing on the belongings to the feds for a cut.

“This brings up not only Fifth Amendment issues around due process, but 10th Amendment issues as it relates to federal overreach,” said state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, the sponsor of the 2016 state law. “Due process is a cornerstone of our legal system and in many ways, civil asset forfeiture is where due process goes to die.”

Brandes, a conservative Republican, said the fact that Sessions and President Donald Trump are members of his own party only shows “that no matter who’s in charge, the government always must be kept in check. My hope is that the Supreme Court will take this issue up and curtail what I believe is federal overreach.”

In asset forfeiture cases, the object of the forfeiture is itself the defendant, rather than the person who lost the property. The Supreme Court could find itself deciding the legality of civil asset forfeiture in multiple cases.

Several have already gone through the federal appellate level, such as United States vs. 2,507 Live Canary Winged Parakeets; United States vs. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins; and, most recently, United States vs. $17,900 in U.S. Currency, a case that was only decided in appeals court last year and so could be ripe for review by the Supreme Court.

About half the states have passed laws clamping down on civil asset forfeiture, and Florida is far from the strictest. According to Brandes, other states have passed laws banning the practice altogether or preventing police from seizing property until someone is convicted of a crime.

“Philosophically, that’s where I am,” Brandes said. “We moved it to charged with a crime to get enough support to pass it.”

The Florida law allows exceptions for currency, meaning police can take someone’s money without charging them with a crime. Brandes said that exception was added during negotiations with the state House and the Florida Sheriffs Association.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office does not participate in the federal program and will not start now, spokeswoman Veda ColemanWright said. However, it does share assets “based upon our participation on federal task forces, which was not affected by the changes made,” she said.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Brandes said there’s little more that can be done at the state level except more oversight of police agencies and more education of voters.

“It should put a fire in the belly of people who believe in freedom and liberty,” Brandes said. “Because as constituents discover how local police departments are seizing property and disposing of that property without oversight, there will be grass-roots support for change.”