US Attorney General Reins In Abuse Of Forfeiture Laws

Holder limits seized-asset sharing process that split billions with local, state police

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Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Friday barred local and state police from using federal law to seize cash, cars and other property without proving that a crime occurred. Holder’s action represents the most sweeping check on police power to confiscate personal property since the seizures began three decades ago as part of the war on drugs. Since 2008, thousands of local and state police agencies have made more than 55,000 seizures of cash and property worth $3 billion under a civil asset forfeiture program at the Justice Department called Equitable Sharing. The program has enabled local and state police to make seizures and then have them “adopted” by federal agencies, which share in the proceeds. The program allowed police departments and drug task forces to keep up to 80 percent of the proceeds of the adopted seizures, with the rest going to federal agencies. “With this new policy, effective immediately, the Justice Department is taking an important step to prohibit federal agency adoptions of state and local seizures, except for public safety reasons,” Holder said in a statement.

This is a huge step in curtailing what has become little more than legalized robbery on an epic scale. State forfeiture laws are still available to abuse; but in most cases there is less incentive to abuse them, because seized assets go into the general fund, not directly to the agency making the seizure, as they did with federal laws. Fortunately, this is only just the first step in reforming forfeiture laws:

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Those programs are not affected by the changes to Equitable Sharing, but Holder also said the new policy is the first step in a “comprehensive review” of civil forfeiture in general.

Needless to say, police are not happy at the elimination of their biggest cash cow.

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“It seems like a continual barrage against police,” said John W. Thompson, interim executive director of the National Sheriffs’ Association. “I’m not saying there’s no wrongdoing, but there is wrongdoing in everything.” Critics of the decision say that depriving departments of the proceeds from civil asset forfeitures will hurt legitimate efforts to fight crime, drug smuggling and terrorism. Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, said, “There is some grave concern about the possible loss of significant funding while local police and state police are being asked to do more and more each year.”

It's good to see that the powers that be are finally not only acknowledging the massive violation of Constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure; but are taking against it.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1sI48Gs