House votes to curb asset forfeiture

Wash Post

Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to curb federal asset forfeitures, a program that enables law enforcement officers to seize private property, often in cases where the owner was never even charged with a crime, much less convicted. The House bill passed by a virtually unanimous voice vote. It would defund a federal asset forfeiture program reinstated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, after Obama AG Eric Holder had previously taken steps to curb it:

The House voted Tuesday to curb the law enforcement practice of seizing cash and property from people who are suspected of illegal activity but who have not necessarily been charged.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers pushed an amendment to a government-spending package for 2018 that would prohibit the Trump administration from using funds to remove restrictions on the use of asset forfeiture. The practice allows law enforcement to seize cash and property and keep at least part of the proceeds.

Opposition to relaxing asset-forfeiture limits produced a strange-bedfellows effort by members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and liberal progressives. Sponsors of the amendment included Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Don Beyer (D-Va.).

Their amendment would specifically restrict the use of what’s known as “adoptive forfeiture,” which allows the federal government to take assets seized by local authorities.

Critics say that the practice has allowed local authorities to circumvent state laws that were stricter than under federal statute. About two dozen states have laws that make it harder for authorities to seize property if a person has not been convicted of a crime.

The funding restrictions passed by a unanimous voice vote. Among the leaders in the effort to curb asset forfeitures were libertarian-leaning Republican Justin Amash and progressive Democrat (and longtime American University law professor) Jamin Raskin. [MORE]