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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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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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…