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

Blog
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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Local zoning boards are not democracy
At the Competitive Enterprise Institute, we have often discussed the need to reform zoning, permitting, and building regulations, so I was intrigued…

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Hey Army Corps, stop delaying wetlands decisions!
Last month in Sackett v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court provided some much-needed clarity on what waters are regulated under the Clean Water…
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IRS Needlessly Chases Minnows to Catch Whales
As part of its Fiscal Year 2022 Revenue Proposals, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has asked Congress to authorize a sweeping new financial reporting…
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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…
News Release
Report on Civil Asset Forfeiture Aimed at Helping People Avoid Government Injustice
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report calls attention to a government injustice impacting too many Americans: civil asset forfeiture. The report…
Blog
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…
Study
“They’re Taking My Stuff!”
What You Need to Know about Seizure and Forfeiture…
National Review
Ending a Destructive and Illegal Government Program
Late last week the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a stay on a lower-court decision that struck down the Biden administration’s extension of the CDC’s nationwide eviction…