Unjust Forfeiture and Seizure

Police abuse of civil asset forfeiture laws allows police to seize - and then keep and sell - any property they allege is involved in a crime.  If it is your property you need not be arrested or convicted of a crime.  Your cash, vehicles and real estate can be taken from you permanently by the government.

These forfeiture laws were originally pitched as a mechanism to cripple large criminal enterprises by seizing their resources.  Because many of these statutes are deeply flawed many police departments use forfeiture to fatten their bottom line making seizures a means of profit instead of crime fighting. 

Forfeiture laws pose one of the greatest threats to property rights in our nation.  These laws encourage law enforcement to favor the pursuit of property  over the pursuit of justice.  Citizens are encouraged to be vigilant when it comes to action by government without criminal due process protections.  Abuses of forfeiture proceedings have been well documented.

Between 2001 and 2018, Texas law enforcement agencies forfeited more than $781 million under Texas law.  In Texas, law enforcement doesn't need to arrest, charge, or convict someone to seize your property.  All that is required is a need to articulate probable cause based upon the officer's suspicion that it is linked to criminal activity; or even that it could be used to facilitate a future crime that hasn't even been committed yet.  

Texas prosecutors rush to civil court - not criminal court - to use this flimsy standard.  In criminal court you have a right to counsel and the government must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.  Neither of which apply in forfeiture cases.

Be grateful you live in Wisconsin and not Texas or another state with flawed laws on their books.  On April 3, 2018, Governor Scott Walker signed Wisconsin Act 211, a bill that changed the rules the State has to follow when it seeks to forfeit property seized in relation to a crime.  This Act significantly changed Wis. Stat. § 961.55, which had previously permitted law enforcement agencies to seize and later forfeit property, in many cases for their own benefit.  The act now protects citizens whose property is seized but who are not prosecuted or whose criminal case is dismissed.  Furthermore, the fruits of any forfeiture is turned over to Wisconsin's School Fund and not the law enforcement agency that seized the property.  

The most significant change to the old forfeiture law is that if the owner of the property is acquitted or the charges dropped, the court must order that the property be returned within 30 days.  The bill also requires seized property to be returned to innocent owners of the property unless the owners were involved with or knowledgeable about the crime related to their property.

Wisconsin Act 211 restored balance between the power of the state and the rights of its citizens. 

Yet, there is reason to be hopeful.  Last year, a Texas judge allowed a class-action lawsuit to move forward against Harris County over its unconstitutional forfeiture program.  

Everyday citizens, along with help from organizations such as The Institute for Justice are pushing back and fighting back to reform flawed and unjust forfeiture laws. 

Remain vigilant, people.