A report from Dan King, at the IJ, explains the background of the decision just released by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, "The case involves a North Carolina man, Dereck McClellan, who was found asleep in a car with $69,940.50 in cash in the trunk. Federal prosecutors had no idea where the cash came from, but they filed a civil forfeiture complaint alleging that the cash had to be drug proceeds. In the government’s view, only a drug dealer would have that much cash in a car. A federal judge in South Carolina shortly later agreed. But the appeals court reversed the decision, and ruled "not using a bank does not necessarily make one a criminal. "If the government is going to take money from someone, they should be required to provide real evidence that the money was obtained in an illegal way, not simply throw around baseless assumptions," said Institute for Justice Attorney Rob Johnson. Unfortunately, however, assumptions are all the government has in many civil forfeiture cases. Today's decision sets an important precedent that will force the government to come forward with real evidence to convince a jury. Such forfeiture cases are becoming more and more common in America, and involve assets including, cars, property, houses and cash, too. IJ argued that the government had to prove wrongdoing in a civil forfeiture case, rather than forcing a property owner to prove innocence. The appeals court agreed, saying, "The government has the burden of proof here, and that makes all the difference." "Court blocks feds attempt to grab $69,000 in cash for no reason Trial to be held on money confiscated from driver", Bob Unruh, August 20, 2022, WND (article is behind a paywall) This sounds like legalized theft. If someone has a large amount of cash with them, which is not in a bank, then in some cases the government assumes that cash must have come from some crime, and takes the money. In other words, the government wants to know exactly how much money everyone has, and the assumption is made that if someone doesn't want to share how much money they have, they must be doing something bad and illegal. related thread: Australia plan to ban cash purchases over $10,000 looks like it may soon become law
