By Johnny Liberty

Asset Forfeiture Law Enforcement Program

Once upon a time it seemed like a fine idea to seize the property of convicted felons. That was in 13^th century England, before the Magna Carta (1215) reforms were instituted. Zealous modern-day, anti-drug warriors forgot about the potential for abuse that government seizures induce when they decided to nip drug dealers in the bud by taking away the fruits of their profits beginning in the 1980s. 

Thus was born the “asset forfeiture law enforcement program”, as Cary H. Copeland, director of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture called it. Today, people’s properties are routinely seized , without a conviction, let alone a charge.

Asset forfeitures are such easy money for law enforcement groups that temptation has turned our “protectors into thieves” while doing little or nothing to stop the drug trade. An internal document summed up the problem, “Like children in a candy shop, the law enforcement community chose all manners and methods of seizing and forfeiting properties, gorging themselves in an effort which soon came to resemble one designed to raise revenues.” 

According to Steven Kessler, author of a three-volume study on federal and state forfeiture, “The use of forfeiture probably increased a hundred fold during the 1990s.” And why would it not? Police departments could suddenly, with little effort, rake in big, easy money with scant accountability. 

These widespread seizures and resulting forfeitures, included, for example: 1) $138,000 Lear Jet whose owner committed the crime of a typographical error on FAA paperwork; 2) apartment buildings owned by landlords who had not eradicated drug dealing on the premises; 3) $1.1 million dollar ranch in California due to a fabricated tip about marijuana plants (Donald Scott).

A technicality in asset forfeiture law allows the government to swoop down like vultures on the private property of U.S. citizens without due process. People may have certain rights under the law, but property does not. So the government sues the property instead of the owner and the property is guilty until proven innocent.

Often, the seizures occur on the basis of unsubstantiated rumors made by confidential government informers. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) often gives rewards to those who make accusations leading to an asset seizure. This is a far too cozy arrangement that generously funds law enforcement units and a mushrooming group of informers at the expense of “U.S. citizens”. 

U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (IL) noted in 1993 that 80% of people who’ve had their property seized under federal drug laws are never formally charged. Many of them never get their property back. Why? Because if the asset is valuable and officials would like to keep it, the cost of suing the government for recovery often exceeds the value of the properties, attorneys cost a fortune, and a counterclaim requires the posting of a huge bond.

References:

1. Forfeitures: A License To Steal, ACLU Briefing Paper (on the legalized theft of drug forfeitures without due process); High Court Restrains Drug Case Forfeitures by Linda P. Campbell, Chicago Tribune News Service (retraining drug forfeitures without due process); Spectre of Forfeiture by Judy Osburn.
2. Liberty International and The Slate | Do States Have the Right to Seize Vehicles for Minor Offenses?; AntiShyster, Volume 6, No. 3, p.30. Reviewed by Estar Holmes.

Source: Sovereign’s Handbook by Johnny Liberty (30th Anniversary Edition), Volume 1 of 3, p.258 – 259

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