Federal and state law enforcement agents may seize money and property from individuals by asserting that they believe the money is connected to some illegal activity. Under federal law and most states' laws, they are entitled to keep most of the money and property they seize. According to the Dept. of Justice, civil asset net forfeitures surged to $4.2 billion in 2012 which was up from $1.7 billion in the preceding year—a one-year increase of over 150%.
"Police agencies have used hundreds of millions of dollars taken from Americans under federal civil forfeiture law in recent years to buy guns, armored cars and electronic surveillance gear," according to Saturday’s investigative article in The Washington Post. "They have also spent money on luxury vehicles, travel and a clown named Sparkles.” The details of the article are from 43,000 annual reports submitted by local and state agencies to the Justice Department’s Equitable Sharing Program, an initiative that allows local and state police to keep up to 80 percent of the assets they seize. Of the nearly $2.5 billion in spending reported in the forms, 81 percent came from cash and property seizures in which no indictment was filed, according to an analysis by The Post.
Even HBO comedian John Oliver took an in-depth look at civil asset forfeiture. And in Congress, two bills have been introduced to address the issue:
- HR 5212: Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act –Bipartisan– Would "raise the level of proof necessary for the government to seize property; restore the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty' by placing the burden on the government to prove a property owner had knowledge of criminal activity Increase transparency of civil forfeiture proceeds; restrict the use of equitable sharing agreements between DOJ and local/state law enforcement agencies that infringe upon state laws," according to the bill sponsor.
- HR 5502: Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act –Bipartisan– (And S 2644 in the Senate) "Makes a number of changes to civil asset forfeiture laws to restore the constitutional protections guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment," according to bill sponsors. "The FAIR Act would ensure that Americans are innocent until proven guilty by requiring the government to meet a higher legal standard before seizing an individual’s property. This legislation would raise the standard to seize assets from a preponderance of evidence to a higher standard of clear and convincing evidence. In addition, the FAIR Act would eliminate the practice of equitable sharing and eliminate all profit incentives by requiring that all funds seized by the federal government go into the general treasury fund."
