Yesterday, Representative Justin Amash (L-MI) introduced a bill designed to end Civil Asset Forfeiture, a process in which law enforcement is allowed to take, keep, and sell property they claim may have been involved in committing a crime. No charges need to be filed for the assets to be forfeited, and until recently—early 2019, when Timbs v. Indiana was decided by the Supreme Court—the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of excessive fines didn’t apply to Civil Asset Forfeiture. Even with that ruling now in place, there’s been no standard yet set by the courts to determine what is and isn’t excessive. Meanwhile, numerous police departments are significantly financially incentivized to seize and keep property in this way, and the frequency with which Civil Asset Forfeiture is applied to cash opens up countless opportunities for graft.
The bill appears, to my eyes at least, to be unlikely to pass. Because Amash is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, he doesn’t have the backing of power brokers in the House (we’ll have to spend another post sometime on how the consolidation of power into House power brokers is, taken frankly, a trend towards authoritarianism). He’s also on his way out, having declined to run for reelection this fall.
Still, Civil Asset Forfeiture is a troublesome thing, and doing away with it through legislation rather than the judicial branch is the more democratic way to handle things (also a more certain way of getting the desired outcome). If you’re interested in learning more about the practice, we recommend this factsheet from The Heritage Foundation and this report from the Institute for Justice. At a high level, though, this is not an uncommon practice, and law enforcement doesn’t have to prove the property was being used as part of a crime: Instead, the property owner has to prove the property wasn’t involved with a crime. State action is desired, but unfortunately not sufficient to stop these thefts: Federal law empowers federal law enforcement to partner with local law enforcement to seize property, even if local law enforcement is prohibited from doing so by state law.
So, read the factsheet, read the report, lament the power broking system in D.C. Then, call your Representative and tell them you support the Civil Asset Forfeiture Elimination Act. Hold them accountable.
