It allows Law Enforcement and Prosecutors to seize property without convicting the property owner of a crime. Ostencibly, the precedent was created to prevent wealthy organized crime bosses and the like from access to the massive amounts of money they could use to either buy their way out of justice or flee the country prior to a complete investigation and trial. It is commonly used today to confiscate valuables from the general public. Houses are confiscated because someone sold drugs from the doorstep, even if the property owner was unaware. Private planes are confiscated because they transported someone who later committed a crime. Cars and even cash are confiscated for minor infractions or even mere suspicion of a crime by law enforcement. The property is retrievable via lengthy and costly court battles, but is most often auctioned off or even kept/used by the confiscating agency because most of the 'accused' can not afford the legal fees. At the very least, property should be automatically returned to any citizen who is not convicted of a crime, and probably should never be confiscated until after a conviction anyway. I'm guessing most of us can agree with this... but I've been wrong before. What do you think?
It occurs to me that the third and possibly the second option would actually be Criminal Asset Forfeiture, and I should've worded everything entirely differently... but w/e. You get the point
My vote: The Authorities [government] should not be able to confiscate any property. The way I view asset forfeiture is nothing more than THEFT. When piggy-piggy shakes down drivers or residential occupants or whomever, they engage in organized theft and if a person cannot afford to a court battle, their property is simply TAKEN.
I vote for asset seizure being outlawed. It violates fundamental constitutional protection under the law, violates due process, and drives local corruption. I will applaud when the SCOTUS finds the same. Why should government be allowed to assume property without due process? Why do we allow government to penalize folks without having to prove a case? I've been put through the question series as part of a normal traffic stop. I understood that I was being profiled, and recognized the list of questions from the beginning. When I offered to video the conversation with the local PD, dude stopped. I had been profiled. He knew I knew, and my willingness to video the officer was the difference between me not having the contents of my vehicle as well as my vehicle confiscated for some BS that the officer who was involved invented. I also suspect that offering to invite my lawyer to the party via face time was also equally effective as a conversation ender. What we know is this. Given the option, some local constables and sheriffs will engage in out right theft of personal property if you fall for their profiling. Sometimes even this level of vigilance cannot preclude you from being victimized by the police in their effort to fund their extravagant life styles in uniform. Ask anyone in my town about the "anger management" cars from the Lambo to the Hummers. All courtesy of forfeiture laws.
Yeah, it is necessary, and a judge has to approve a "good faith findings" that, yeah, indeed, the forfeiture is tainted fruit.
What about property that can be proven to have been obtained by crime? Should a convicted criminal get to keep the fruits of their crime after getting out of prison? For example: a man is successfully prosecuted for racketeering, theft, money laundering, using threats of violence to drive out competition to his business empire, etc, but there's no conviction of any actual violence beyond threats, no murder, his profits have substantially exceeded the amounts he stole and has to pay back and he gets a relatively light sentence. Should he get to keep the money and infrastructure he provably built with the profits of his crime after he's released from a potentially short prison sentence? Is that Just?
You're right, now that I think about it. I'm against Civil Asset forfeiture, but I have no problem with criminal asset forfeiture.
