Asset Forfeiture (n) 1. The seizing of a citizen’s property, many times permanently. No crime need be charged.
“Civil asset forfeiture defines a new standard of justice in America; or more precisely, a new standard of injustice. Under civil seizure, property, not an individual is charged with an offense. Even if you are a totally innocent owner, the government can still confiscate your “guilty” property.” (Jarret B. Wollstein, “The Looting of America“)
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The Fifth Amendment states that no citizen shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” However, citizens are deprived of each one of those things on a daily basis in our country. Asset Forfeiture is part and parcel of the War on Drugs and has given police carte blanche to seize the property or money of any person, and without the necessity of even charging them with a crime. It is a very easy law to abuse and has led to ongoing corruption within some of the organizations set in place to protect us.
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“Civil asset forfeiture has allowed police to view all of America as some giant national K-Mart, where prices are not just lower, but non-existent — a sort of law enforcement ‘pick-and-don’t-pay.”
U.S. Representative Henry Hyde
“Findings suggest asset forfeiture is a dysfunctional policy. Forfeiture programs, while
serving to generate income, prompt drug enforcement to serve functions that are inherently contradictory
and often at odds with the demands of justice.”
Mitchell Miller & Lance H. Selva
U.S. FORFEITURE STATISTICS
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INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE VIDEO
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THE LOOTING OF AMERICA
www.isil.org
THE FORFEITURE RACKED
www.reason.com
HOW THE POLICE CAN SIEZE YOUR STUFF WHEN YOU HAVEN NOT BEEN PROVEN GUILTY OF ANYTHING
www.economist.com
HIGHWAY ROBBERY? TEXAS POLICE SIEZE BLACK MOTORISTS’ CASH, CARS
www.chicagotribune.com
ANOTHER ASSET FORFEITURE OUTRAGE
www.cato-at-liberty.org
ONGOING 2011 CONTROVERSY IN GEORGIA
Citizens Have Had Enough Abuse
F.E.A.R. is a web site dedicated to asset forfeiture reform.
Learn the history of civil asset forfeiture along with a
lot of other important information on the topic. www.fear.org
May 2011 – A Mr. Petrosyan’s money seizure, with no charges made, led to
an investigation into Tennessee’s abusive forfeiture acts by police.
Channel 5 News Report
Case of Abuse of Forfeiture Laws Caught On Tape
