Posted on 07/06/2020 6:01:39 PM PDT by RandFan
A bipartisan bill in the Senate offers the opportunity for some improvement on the criminal justice front.
.. Amid growing concerns over racial inequality in the criminal justice system, “civil asset forfeiture” is facing renewed scrutiny.
On June 25, Sens. Rand Paul, Angus King, Mike Crapo, and Mike Lee reintroduced their bill, the “Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act,” to limit civil asset forfeiture and restore due process rights.
Through civil asset forfeiture, federal and state-level law enforcement can seize private property they merely suspect is related to some criminal activity. Examples of seized property include cash, vehicles, and even homes. No charges or convictions are required for police to confiscate this property. (Alternatively, in the less-common process of criminal asset forfeiture, a conviction is required.) In an inversion of the principle of “innocent until proven guilty,” Americans must pursue a lengthy, complicated, and costly appeal process to get their property back.
According to the public interest law firm the Institute for Justice (IJ), the Department of Justice takes in roughly $4.5 billion annually from civil asset forfeiture. And it happens at the state level in most of the country as well. Texas, for example, took in $50 million in 2017 through criminal and civil asset forfeiture combined. IJ examined the fairness of civil asset forfeiture laws to grade all 50 states and gave 35 a “D+” or worse.
Why are law enforcement agencies so aggressive with the practice? Critics describe it as “policing for profit.”
Per the Institute for Justice, “In 43 states, police and prosecutors can keep anywhere from half to all of the proceeds they take in from civil forfeiture.” The assets go into their own department’s coffers, not back into the general treasury.
Click Excerpt link for examples of Civil Asset Forfeiture...
(Excerpt) Read more at thedispatch.com ...
Watch the Bush League Republicans come together to stop this.
Ending this “legalized” theft of American citizens’ property will go a long ways to help “reform” the police and our “justice” system.
I wish they would use that against illegals. If the illegals had the idea that they could lose everything because they have broken our laws, they would self-deport.
Not sure if it will pass. I maybe wrong but King is technically an ‘independent’ so no Democrats on the bill.
There doesn’t need to be “some improvement” it needs to end.
Politicians will do anything to keep the racket going.
No Dems on the bill says it all ...
Half the GOP will vote against it so I doubt this can pass the Senate..
Maybe defunding the police is not such a bad idea after all. People could band together to hire private security forces then, and there wouldn’t be any police to snatch away your possessions under civil forfeiture. And if they tried to keep on taxing people at the same rate,as if they were paying police salaries and retirement then just don’t pay the taxes, who is to come and collect?
With private security forces so many problems would evaporate. There wouldn’t be cops standing around watching quietly while BLM beats people up and murders people and sets up roadblocks. Private security forces wouldn’t be under the thumb of corrupt Democrat mayors telling them to stand down, because they’d not be accountable to the mayors and we know the GOP is not, in so many places, going to run a candidate against Dim mayors and Dim city councils. It would remove armed force from the control of these corrupt cities and even small towns, and return power to the people.
Just a thought.
The ‘defund’ the police thing is a joke.
All they’re going to do is rename the police department to something more palatable like “community officers” or whatever.
They will still be the police ... and they will still confiscate innocent people’s property!
Fun fact: the first civil asset forfeiture law was passed by the First Congress, and signed into law by President George Washington.
The Democrat House will stop this bill. It’s too lucrative to stop.
L8r
I think that’s an interesting idea. I hope some people look into this more, what the pros and cons might be. It seems almost every situation going private works better. I’m not sure how it would work in the really poor areas though.
“Fun fact: the first civil asset forfeiture law was passed by the First Congress, and signed into law by President George Washington.”
Link?
The problem is they use it against citizens and people who have NOT broken any law. And even after people are exonerated by a court, the police refuse to return their property or have already sold it off - and refuse to pay them for it.
Still think it’s a good idea?
If Senator Rand Paul supports it, so do I.
Battle of Athens
This is a rare time I agree with the left
Like I said I’m guilty of
Didn’t read past headline
My bad
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