Now’s a good time to scrap civil asset forfeiture
The killing of George Floyd and the subsequent nationwide uproar has rightfully forced needed conversations about law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
While Congress has so far fumbled on working toward tangible, passable legislation, Sens. Rand Paul, R–Kentucky, Mike Lee, R–Utah, Mike Crapo, R–Idaho, and Angus King, I– Maine, have reintroduced legislation to limit the use of civil asset forfeiture.
Through the practice, law enforcement is able to seize cash and other assets from individuals suspected or accused of criminal activity without so much as a criminal conviction or even bringing criminal charges.
The practice of civil asset forfeiture in contemporary times has its roots in the War on Drugs, and is often defended on the grounds that it’s necessary to seize ill-gotten assets from drug lords.
But in reality, the practice often sweeps up either completely innocent people or those only peripherally related to criminal activity.
The Institute for Justice, for example, has noted cases like that of a New Jersey woman whose car was seized because her son, without her knowledge, used her car while selling marijuana.
In addition to the problem of empowering law enforcement to seize property in the name of fighting crime without even getting a criminal conviction, civil asset forfeiture skews the incentives of many police departments to prioritize enforcement in cases expected to yield seizure opportunities.
To address this, Paul’s Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act would eliminate financial incentives for local law enforcement agencies to participate in civil asset forfeiture in partnership with federal agencies by repealing “equitable sharing” between federal and state and local agencies of seizure revenues.
It would also raise the threshold for forfeiture by requiring “clear and convincing evidence” that a seized asset is linked to a crime, instead of the current “preponderance of the evidence” standard.
While we’d prefer that any civil asset forfeiture be banned outright, these are significant improvements over the status quo. Police agencies should always serve the interests of the public. Any incentive to police for profit should be eliminated. — Los Angeles Daily News,
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