Civil asset forfeiture is a process by which law enforcement agencies can seize private property that they suspect has been obtained by or used in the commission of a crime. The property owner must then fight to regain his property.
Unlike criminal cases, in civil asset forfeiture, the burden of proof is on the property owner. The owner must prove that the seized property was not involved in criminal activities. The process to regain one’s property can be difficult and expensive. In many instances, the victims simply give up their property without any legal battle. As the Institute for Justice notes,
In civil forfeiture cases, some owners give up on their property because they cannot find or afford a lawyer, miss one of the often tight deadlines to file a claim or are otherwise stymied by a confusing legal process. Other owners opt not to fight because they conclude that the costs in time, money and aggravation outweigh the value of their property.
Legally and morally, individuals should not benefit from criminal activities. But in civil asset forfeiture, property owners are often never convicted of a crime. And in many cases, criminal charges are never even filed against the property owner. Consider the plight of Oralia Rodriguez as an example.
Rodriguez had allowed her son to borrow her truck. When he was pulled over by police, they found 13.5 grams of marijuana on him. Prosecutors then went to court to seize the truck. Seven weeks later, the District Attorney’s office released the truck to Rodriguez, but she had to pay more than $1,600, in addition to storage and towing fees. Rodriguez was never charged with a crime, yet was penalized for the actions of her son.
And this isn’t an isolated example. In 2007, Jennifer Boatright, her two young sons, and her boyfriend were traveling to her hometown in east Texas to buy a used car. They were pulled over for a minor traffic infraction and the car was searched. The officer found the cash that they were going to use for the automobile purchase. An hour later, the district attorney informed the couple that they could be charged with money laundering and child endangerment unless they signed over the cash to the city of Tenaha. If they signed the waiver, they would be free to leave with the children and no charges would be filed.
Civil asset forfeiture enables law enforcement officials to intimidate innocent citizens into relinquishing their property. It is a form of legalized highway robbery.
Even when individuals are able to regain their property, they often must endure tremendous turmoil and expense. Oralia Rodriguez is one example. Though she had done nothing wrong, she was penalized. She had to give up her money in order to regain what was rightfully hers. In Boatright’s case, she had to give up her money in order to escape bogus criminal charges. Interestingly, if she had offered the cash to escape charges, it would have been called bribery. But when the prosecutor offers the same deal, it’s called civil asset forfeiture.