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Charlotte-area police departments are rolling in forfeiture funds
I’ve always loved William Blake’s poem “Auguries of Innocence,” which begins by asking the reader “To see a World in a Grain of Sand.”…
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The catastrophic consequences of COVID for California constitutional government
COVID-19 hit California hard. The effects of COVID on California’s population were terrible, and the government policies that California imposed on its citizens may have…
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Three Supreme Court justices have gone public about the fundamental unfairness of civil forfeiture
Yesterday, I was able to get out of the office to watch the oral argument in Culley v. Marshall before the Supreme Court of…
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22 months after we asked, the Food and Drug Administration answered!
Finally! Nearly two years after we asked, the government has finally told us what it was doing! Here’s what happened: We asked the Food and…
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Progress in Congress for real civil forfeiture reform
For the last couple of years, I’ve been monitoring every change in the law in the United States in the area of civil forfeiture. Last…
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SEC just dismissed dozens of cases before its ‘not-quite courts,’ thanks to real court rulings
For over a decade, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been forcing people into in-house quasi-judicial proceedings that lack the basic constitutional protections of…
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Supreme Court breathes new life into Takings Clause in Tyler v. Hennepin County
When you don’t pay property taxes, you run the risk of the government seizing and selling your property. That’s what happened to Geraldine Tyler, a…
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Taking people’s stuff: Civil forfeiture is widespread, unjust, and resists reform
Civil forfeiture is a deeply unfair practice in which government agents take and keep billions of dollars of personal property every year – usually without…
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Legislation Introduced to Curb Federal Forfeiture
Earlier this month, Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) reintroduced the Fifth Amendment Restoration Act (FAIR) Act. This measure is aimed at curbing federal forfeiture…
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New Hampshire Civil Forfeiture Would Protect Private Property from Unjust Seizure
Several state legislators in New Hampshire will consider a major change in criminal justice policy later today. The House Committee on Criminal Justice and Public…
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Ninth Circuit Refuses to Reconsider Allowing Wealth Taxes
Moore v. United States—a case in which CEI represents the Moore family—is likely to be the most important tax case of the 21st century. Yesterday’s…
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Why Cops Should Be Chasing the Bad Guys, Not the Big Bucks
A recent episode of Archer featured a dialogue between two FBI agents, both riding on jet skis, chasing a wrongdoer’s boat. Agent…
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Tennessee Corruption Case Raises Questions about Forfeiture and Police Office Culture
On a summer Tennessee night in 2021, Deputy Daniel Jacobs of the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office attempted, essentially, to sell a 2010 Lincoln MKZ to…
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“They’re Taking My Stuff!” – Now on Video!
News that involves the police is inherently dramatic, and stories about what police officers do regularly make the news—asset seizure of hundreds of thousands of…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages: Do People Facing Forfeiture Get Due Process?
A high-profile reversal of a recent civil forfeiture case makes me wonder: Do those who face civil forfeiture generally receive due process of law? That…
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Countering Civil Forfeiture Myths with Facts
Every year, federal, state, and local government agents take—and permanently keep—billions of dollars of Americans’ property through civil forfeiture. The practice of civil forfeiture creates…
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Testimony on Forfeiture Reform before the Tennessee General Assembly
Earlier today, I testified before the Tennessee General Assembly on HB 2525, a measure that would reform the Volunteer State’s system of asset forfeiture.
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Twelfth in a Series: Love Field Update)
A few months ago, I blogged about the curious case of a currency seizure at Dallas Love Field. In December, the Dallas Police Department (DPD)…
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Vermont Considers Major Forfeiture Reform
Tomorrow, I will testify before the Vermont General Assembly on H. 533, a measure that would reform the Green Mountain State’s system of asset…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Eleventh in a Series: Highway Robbery in California)
The bandit is the scourge of the traveler. In less developed parts of the world, travelers risk encountering bandits even today. Sometimes the bandit claims…
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New Hampshire Considers Major Forfeiture Reform
The New Hampshire state legislature’s House Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety is considering a significant change to the Granite State’s forfeiture laws:…
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This Week’s Outrage (Which, Again, Touches on Civil Asset Forfeiture)
Last week, the Birmingham News published a scorching expose of police practices in the little town of Brookside, Alabama (population 1,253). Brookside has no…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Tenth in a Series: Baltimore Edition)
This Baltimore Brew news story describes how the Baltimore Police Department (BPD)—like many police departments around the country—seizes millions of dollars, thousands of weapons,…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages (Ninth in a Series: Texas Edition)
There is a big difference between being accused of misconduct and a court finding of misconduct. Nonetheless, the recent accusations leveled against Nathan Johnson, the…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Eighth in a Series)
I wish it were harder to find forfeiture outrages to write about, but they keep popping up. This week, I focus on Massachusetts. Here’s a…
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This Week’s Outrage (which Touches on Civil Asset Forfeiture)
Last month, The New York Times reported on the way that law enforcement officers take money from the rest of us. I’ve been alternately…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Seventh in a Series)
I’m happy to report that I’ve discovered no new civil forfeiture outrages this week. Instead, I’ll write about two civil forfeiture outrages that are a…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Sixth in a Series)
This week’s civil forfeiture outrage begins with a photograph of a police dog crouching over more than $100,000 in U.S. currency. Earlier this week, CBSDFW.COM…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages (Fifth in a Series)
I just finished watching one of the most gripping, compelling videos I have ever seen. It’s like a dystopian horror movie—except it’s real. It’s…
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This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrage (Fourth in a Series)
Here’s a fascinating story in the Arizona Republic about an appeals court hearing earlier this week. Reporter Perry Vandell’s account of that hearing isn’t…
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The Fruits of Forfeiture in Little Compton
The Providence Journal’s Antonia Noori Farzan just published a great story (paywalled) about the Rhode Island town of Little Compton—the second-smallest town in the…
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A Note on Politicized Investment Policy
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a change in its pension rules. DOL announced that it intends to incorporate political…
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This Week in Civil Forfeiture Outrages
Not for the first time, I came across so many accounts of civil forfeiture outrages this week that I couldn’t narrow them down to just…
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Climate Change Alarmism: This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages, Part 3
A fascinating story in the Huffington Post hits a CEI trifecta: abuse of government authority, climate change alarmism, and reckless spending of civil forfeiture…
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The Philadelphia Steal Mill: This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages, Part 2
The Institute for Justice has just published an extraordinary report on civil forfeiture. For many years, the City of Philadelphia ran what is best…
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The Destruction of a Perfectly Good Corvette Convertible: This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages, Part 1
A colleague suggested that CEI should start up a regular feature: Civil Forfeiture Outrage of the Week. That assignment is more challenging than one might…
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How Civil Forfeiture Can Enable Public Officials’ Misuse of Funds
A fascinating story at Reason last week—about the misuse of money confiscated through civil forfeiture—illuminates the many kinds of corruption that the practice of…
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Must We Be Submissive to the Cops?
CEI has just published my paper “They’re Taking My Stuff!”: What You Need to Know about Seizure and Forfeiture.” My interest in this topic…