CONSERVATIVE ISSUES 01/31/2023
By Art Harman
If you’ve heard the term “civil asset forfeiture” in the liberal media, you might get the idea that it means once a suspect is convicted in a fair trial, thieves and drug dealers would have any property they stole or bought with stolen money seized and returned to its owners or sold by the state.
That’s of course the right thing to do for convicted criminals, and that’s what happens every day under established and non-controversial laws.
But that’s not what civil asset forfeiture is.
Civil asset forfeiture is the seizure of private property by the government without due process of law. Law enforcement officers routinely seize money, financial assets and possessions simply by asserting their intuition or belief that the assets or property are connected to some (often unspecified) illegal activity.
These laws allow governments to seize your property without any compensation in violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution for merely being accused of a crime, and has become both a cash cow for federal, state and local police. It can be used as a tool of terror against law-abiding people, or just to line the pockets of police forces with your car, home, cash, firearms and property.
Both federal and state civil asset forfeiture laws allow for seizing property from Americans without a trial or even an arrest.
Federal or local police could literally claim they ‘think’ someone may have committed some crime, and seize whatever they want.
The burden of proof in asset forfeiture proceedings is placed entirely on the owner to prove his innocence, instead of the government to prove guilt.
Seized property is often not returned, even if the owner is never convicted of a crime. Property is often seized without even charging owners with a crime.
Many people cannot afford to fight in court to restore rightful ownership of their property.
Instead of returning property to its rightful owners, police and government agencies often retain seized property for their own use, or sell seized property and keep the income, creating a vested incentive to seize property for salaries, vehicles, and perks, giving rise to the euphemism, “policing for profit.”
Courts of justice are the proper and legal venue to determine if property is stolen or used in the commission of a crime, not individual police officers or public officials.
Stolen property should always be returned to its lawful owners, and not become the property of governments or police departments.
A reading of the Constitution shows our rights against illegal seizure of your property.
The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
The Fifth Amendment states, “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
The abolition of civil asset forfeiture laws at all levels of government would restore the rights guaranteed in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to not be deprived of property without due process of law.
Art Harman is the Executive Director of The Conservative Caucus Foundation. While serving as the Legislative Director to Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) in the 113th Congress, he wrote the “Fifth Amendment Restoration Act” which would outlaw civil asset forfeiture on the federal level and forbid federal cooperation with state and local police on civil asset forfeiture.
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