Drugs, Police & the Law: Civil Asset Forfeiture

[sandra]

Civil Asset Forfeiture is the practice of law enforcement seizing and keeping money, property, and other assets which they suspect may have come from illegal profits - such as drug sales. Civil asset forfeiture often takes place without proof of the origins of the asset and without a conviction of anyone for wrongdoing. Law enforcement often retains the seized assets, or the proceeds from the sale of the assets, and uses the assets to fund further law enforcement efforts. As a result, a dangerous incentive is created for law enforcement to seize and keep assets at the expense of due process and individual liberties. Challenging civil asset forfeiture practices is a drug policy reform effort that has received considerable public support.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures..." The expansion of police powers as part of the war on drugs has been one of the most significant challenges to the integrity of the Fourth Amendment.

Thanks sandra--that is what I needed!

a JK