Civil forfeiture has become a significant government intrusion in recent years. While it remains a viable instrument for federal agents enforcing customs laws and fighting international crime, misguided policies and misaligned incentives foster abuses and raise grave constitutional concerns.
Each year, federal and state forfeiture programs allow law enforcement to seize more than $3 billion in cash and property from thousands of people – often without ever charging them with a crime. There are also serious questions as to whether civil courts using lower burdens of proof are the appropriate means to enforce government anti-crime policies.
Civil forfeiture further jeopardizes the relationship between police and their communities when vulnerable residents who cannot afford to challenge small-value seizures are targeted. There are also questionable benefits when financially-stressed departments prioritize revenue-generating forfeitures over arrests, drug interdiction, and crime-fighting.
CEI is addressing these issues through its new Forfeiture Reform Initiative: engaging federal and state policymakers to implement much-needed reforms and educating the public about their constitutional rights to stop improper seizures in the first place.
No person should have to fear for their property while engaged in lawful activities or lose it without ever being convicted of a crime.
Featured Posts
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Sunshine in Wyoming’s civil forfeiture
Transparency in civil forfeiture took a small step forward last week when the Wyoming Liberty Group published its latest report. One difficulty in writing about…
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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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Free the Economy podcast: Protecting your property rights with Betsy Sanz
In this week’s episode we cover slow-moving infrastructure projects, the impact of the conservative boycott of Bud Light, good and…
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U.S. Slips to Historic Low in Global Corruption Index
America has slipped to a historic low in the global corruption index, Reuters reports, and it is no longer one of the 20 least…
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“Rent Is Too Damn High” Candidate’s Rent is Actually Quite Low
Oh look, a politician building a campaign on the premise that he understands his constituents’ plight is actually…very far removed from the issues that are…
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Rent Control: Why Is It So Bad?
When rent is “too damn high,” people move. Yet many cities still impose rotating rent controls, in a misguided attempt to make housing more…
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Poker and Private Property in South Carolina
In South Carolina, the fate of five men has hung in the balance for the last four years. They crime they have been accused of…
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Rent Is Too Damn High
Not much to add to this brilliant insight: The rent is too damn high! Jimmy McMillan doesn’t get into details about what he intends…
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Building Height Restrictions: Where I Agree with Matthew Yglesias
Matthew Yglesias of the Center for American Progress links to a Washington Post article that notes that office rents in downtown D.C. are now…