From High Seas to Highway Robbery

How Civil Asset Forfeiture Became One of

the Worst Forms of Government Overreach
by
Jason Pye

History

ivil asset forfeiture is a process by which governments

seize property suspected of having a connection to a
crime such as being used in the commission of an illicit act, or acquired with the profits of criminal activity. Unlike
criminal proceedings, where charges are brought against an
individual, governments bring their case against property in civil asset forfeiture cases1 (e.g. United States v. $127,700 in U.S.
Currency and United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of
Shark Fins).
Bringing a case against property creates a legal fiction. Inanimate objects cannot commit crimes, but civil asset forfeiture
provides a means for governments to target property suspected
of having a connection with criminal activity, without bringing
actual criminal asset forfeiture proceedings. In most states and
the federal government, the presumption of innocence does not
exist in civil asset forfeiture proceedings. Property subject to
these proceeding is guilty until proven innocent by the property
owner, who often is never even charged with a crime.
Civil asset forfeiture has its roots in the Medieval concept of in
rem forfeiture. Kings, for instance, could seize an instrument
that caused the death of another in order to finance the deceaseds funeral mass,2 Scott Bullock, a senior attorney at the
Institute for Justice, explains. The idea arose from a superstitious belief that objects acted independently to cause death.3
That civil asset forfeiture comes from a superstitious belief that
inanimate objects could independently cause death reveals a
lot about this legal practice.
In 1651, the British Parliament passed the Navigation Ordinance,4
which prohibited the transport of goods via foreign ships to or
from British and colonial ports. Meant to target the Dutch, violators of the Ordinance, which was one of the contributing causes
of the First Anglo-Dutch War, faced loss of their vessels.

United States v. $127,700 in U.S. Currency, 780 F.2d

533 (5th Cir. 1985). http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/
appellate-courts/F2/780/533/148340/ and United States
v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins 520 F.3d
976 (2008). https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10574858809426807872
1

Scott Bullock, Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset

Forfeiture. Asset Forfeiture Report: Foreword. Institute for
Justice. http://www.ij.org/foreword-2#_edn1
2

Ibid.

The Navigation Laws. www.paliament.uk. http://www.

parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/
tradeindustry/importexport/overview/navigationlaws/
4

Molasses Act. Dictionary of American History. 2003.

Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/
doc/1G2-3401802719.html
5

Although King Charles II voided the Ordinance upon his restoration to the throne, parliament passed several other acts over
the next half-century that allowed the British to seize ships not
in compliance with the stubbornly nationalist sentiments of the
laws.
In 1733, parliament passed the Molasses Act,5 which imposed
heavy duties on imported molasses. The intent of the Act was to
force American colonists to purchase molasses from the British
West Indies, rather than non-British colonies. The Act was wide-

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 1

ly evaded due to bribery of local officials and smuggling. Ships

that were found in violation of the law were subject to seizure.
Laws that allowed for the seizure of property were not limited to
trade and the seas. In the Colonial period, the English Crown
issued writs of assistance that permitted customs officials to
enter homes or vessels and seize whatever they deemed contraband,6 Sarah Stillman wrote in The New Yorker. As the legal
scholars Eric Blumenson and Eva Nilsen have noted, these writs
were among the key grievances that triggered the American
Revolution.7
These laws, that allowed government officials to seize citizens
property without criminal charges, were in absolute contradiction to our founders vision of liberty. James Otis, a Massachusetts lawyer and one of the early American patriots, challenged
the legality of British writs of assistance, or general warrants, in
1761 as a violation of English common law.
I will to my dying day oppose, with all the powers and faculties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on the
one hand and villainy on the other as this Writ of Assistance
is,8 Otis said at the State House in Boston. It appears to me
the worst instrument of arbitrary power, the most destructive of
English liberty and the fundamental principles of law, that ever
was found in an English law-book.9
Summarizing what he had seen on that February day, John
Adams, who would become one of the leading advocates for
independence from the British crown, wrote that Otis asserted
that every man, merely natural, was an independent sovereign,
subject to no law but the law written on his heart and revealed
to him by his Maker, in the constitution of his nature and the
inspiration of his understanding and his conscience. His right to
his life, his liberty, no created being could rightfully contest. Nor
was his right to his property less incontestable.10
Sarah Stillman, Taken, The New Yorker. August 12, 2013.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/08/12/taken
6

Ibid.

James Otis, In Opposition to Writs of Assistance, Western

Journal, February, 1761. http://www.westernjournalism.com/
blogging-tools/historical-documents/exploration-and-the-colonial-era-1492-1765/in-opposition-to-writs-of-assistance/
8

Ibid.

John Adams, summarizing James Otis, Against Writs of

Assistance, Who We Are, the Story of Americas Constitution.
February 1761. http://www.nhinet.org/ccs/docs/writs.htm

The First United States Congress passed Virginia Congressman

James Madisons fourth proposal, which, in part, prohibited writs
of assistance and unreasonable searches and seizures.11 The
Fourth Amendment to our Constitution was largely based on
this language.

10

Proposed Amendments to the Constitution, Rutgers University. http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/james-madison/

proposed-amendments-to-the-constitution.php
11

The First United States Congress enacted a civil asset forfeiture

statute based on British admiralty law. The statute was meant
to aid in the collection of customs duties, which was almost the

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 2

sole source of revenue for the new federal government.

The first significant challenge to federal civil asset forfeiture laws
came in 1827 via The Palmyra case.12 In the case, a privateer and
his ship were captured while trying to destroy American ships.
The privateer claimed his ship, which was commissioned by the
King of Spain, could not be forfeited until he was convicted of a
crime. The Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that the ship itself
was guilty of the bad act, not simply the privateer.
In 1844, in United States v. Brig Malek Adhel,13 Justice Joseph
Story, writing for the majority, upheld the seizure of a vessel
used in piracy even though the captain and the crew had not
been charged with a crime.
The vessel which commits the aggression is treated as the offender, as the guilty instrument or thing to which the forfeiture
attaches, without any reference whatsoever to the character or
conduct of the owner, Story wrote. This was justified, he explained, from the necessity of the case, as the only adequate
means of suppressing the offense or wrong, or insuring an indemnity to the injured party.14
Although the use of civil asset forfeiture was typically, if not exclusively, limited to maritime law, it was rarely used until the late
20th Century outside of two brief periods, as Bullock notes, the
Civil War and Prohibition.15

The Palmyra, 25 U.S. (12 Wheat) 1(1827). https://supreme.

justia.com/cases/federal/us/25/1/case.html
12

13

United States v. The Brig Malek Adhel, 43 U.S. 210 (1844).

14

Ibid.

Bullock, Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset

Forfeiture. http://www.ij.org/foreword-2#_edn1
15

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 3

Profit Motive

n the 1980s, well-intentioned lawmakers escalated policies

intended to target illicit drug activity, much like illegal spirits
were targeted during Prohibition. In 1984, Congress passed
the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, which created the Justice Departments Assets Forfeiture Fund. Use of civil asset forfeiture subsequently exploded.16
Between 1986 and 2003, deposits to the Fund grew from nearly
$94 million to $500 million. In 2011, deposits totaled $1.804 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office.17
Asset Forfeiture Revenue / Fiscal Year 2003Fiscal Year 2011
Year

Revenues (in millions)

2003

$500

2004

$571

2005

$612

2006

$1,207

2007

$1,662

2008

$1,421

2009

$1,450

2010

$1,793

2011

$1,804

Government Accountability Office / Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund: Transparency and Controls Over Equitable Sharing Should Be Improved (July 2012)

While deposits to the Assets Forfeiture Fund came by way of

seizures by federal law enforcement agencies, state and local
law enforcement agencies can, through adoptive seizures,
send confiscated property and cash to the federal government.
Through the Department of Justices Equitable Sharing Program,
another product of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, state
and local law enforcement can receive up to 80 percent of the
proceeds from forfeitures under this arrangement.
Government Accountability Office, Justice Assets
Forfeiture Fund: Transparency of Balances and Control
over Equitable Sharing Should Be Improved. Report to
Congressional Requesters. (July 2012). http://www.gao.gov/
assets/600/592349.pdf
16

17

Ibid.

18

Ibid.

There are minimum thresholds on what property can be adopted by the federal government. The minimum threshold for
vehicles is $5,000 and currency and bank accounts are set at
$2,000, for example.18 The Department of Justices Guide to Equitable Sharing does note, however, that [e]xceptions may be

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 4

made in individual cases where an overriding law enforcement

benefit requires the seizure of an asset that does not meet the
thresholds.19
Between FY 2003 and FY 2011, equitable sharing payments to
state and local law enforcement agencies have more than doubled, totaling more than $3.1 billion over this period.20
Equiteable Sharing Payments / Fiscal Year 2003Fiscal Year
2011
Year

Payments (in millions)

2003

$218

2004

$268

2005

$271

2006

$324

2007

$400

2008

$437

2009

$396

2010

$388

2011

$445

Government Accountability Office / Justive Assets Forfeiture Fund: Transparency and Controls Over Equitable Sharing Should Be Improved (July 2012)

Federal forfeiture law allows federal law enforcement agencies

to keep 100 percent of the proceeds from forfeitures, thus creating a perverse profit motive to seize property and cash. The
property owner may never be chargedlet alone convicted of
a crime. The Justice Departments Equitable Sharing Program,
which, as noted, allows state and local law enforcement to receive up to 80 percent of the proceeds from adoptive seizures,
also advances this profit motive.
Although this publication focuses primarily on federal forfeiture history, a
separate FreedomWorks publicationCivil Asset Forfeiture: Grading the
Statesoffers a look at state forfeiture laws. In this publication, FreedomWorks notes that 39 states allow law enforcement to keep some or all of the
proceeds from forfeitures.
19

Ibid.

20

Ibid.

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 5

Abuse of Funds
21

Ibid.

22

Ibid.

Nick Sibilla, The 14 Most Ridiculous Things Police Bought

with Asset Forfeiture. Community on Buzzfeed. June 24,
2013. http://www.buzzfeed.com/nicks29/the-14-most-ridiculous-things-police-bought-with-a-4y3w
23

24

Ibid.

25

Ibid.

Willoughby Mariano, DAs spending of federal forfeiture

money in question, Atlanta Journal Constitution, October
5, 2013.
26

Nick Sibilla, IF IN DOUBT...TAKE IT! Behind Closed Doors,

Government Officials Make Shocking Comments About Civil
Forfeiture. Community Buzzfeed. November 10, 2014. http://
www.buzzfeed.com/nicks29/aif-in-doubtatake-ita-behindclosed-doors-4y3w
27

aw enforcement and prosecutors often oppose efforts to

reform federal and state civil asset forfeiture reform laws.
The funds, they say, are crucial to their efforts to combat
drug crime. Often, law enforcement point to vehicles seized that
are now used to wage the war on drugs.
Arguments in support of forfeiture laws almost always include
claims that law enforcement is underfunded and the proceeds
from seizures allow them to purchase equipment they need to
hire additional personnel to keep communities safe. But, many,
if not most states, do not place restrictions on how these funds
can be spent.
Theres some limitations on it. Actually, theres not really on the
forfeiture stuff. We just usually base it on something that would
be nice to have that we cant get in the budget, for instance,
a Missouri sheriff told a local government panel in November
2012. We try not to use it for things that we need to depend on
because we need to have those purchased.21
Its kind of like pennies from heaven, he boasted. It gets you a
toy or something that you need is the way that we typically look
at it, to be perfectly honest.22
While law enforcement does use funds to conduct investigations,
there are examples of abuse, as well. A Georgia sheriff spent
$90,000 on a Dodge Viper for his countys drug awareness program and $35,000 to build a party house.23 A prosecutor in
Texas dropped more than $267,000 on travel expenses, which
included trips to casinos.24 Another Texas prosecutor purchased
booze and a margarita machine with forfeiture proceeds.25
An Atlanta prosecutor used forfeiture funds to rent out a movie
theater just three months before mandating ten furlough days
for employees due to budget shortfalls. He used funds to pay
for home security, register an office softball team, a photo shoot,
dinners, and tickets to see singer and rapper CeeLo Green.26
Government officials are well aware of the power they wield
through civil asset forfeiture. A New Mexico city attorney, speaking at a conference to educate law enforcement on how to seize
property (yes, such conferences exist), was caught on video
boasting, We could own the city. We could be in the real estate
business.27
The Department of Justices Equitable Sharing Program does

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 6

have limitations on how proceeds can be used. Using equitable

sharing payments for salaries, overtime, new and temporary positions, and food and beverages are included as impermissible
uses. The program also prohibits anticipated payments from
being budgeted.
These restrictions, however, are not always, if ever, meaningfully
enforced by the Department of Justice. A recent Drug Policy
Alliance study noted that several Los Angeles-area law enforcement agencies have used equitable sharing payments to supplant their budgets and hire and pay for personnel.28
A Department of Justice spokesperson seemingly brushed
off the violations of the program. Administering this requirement can be difficult in periods where budget reductions are
common, he said. In determining whether supplantation has
occurred, the Justice Department examines various factors including the law enforcement agencys budget as a whole and its
relation to other fiscal measures undertaken by the governing
body.
Law enforcement should, of course, be funded to the fullest extent possible so they can fulfill their duties, but this responsibility
should fall on local and state governments. It should not come
from the perverse profit motive created by civil asset forfeiture,
which, far too often, involves proceeds from property wrongfully
taken from innocent people.

28

Above the Law: An Investigation of Civil Asset Forfeiture

in California. Drug Policy Alliance. http://www.drugpolicy.org/
sites/default/files/Drug_Policy_Alliance_Above_the_Law_
Civil_Asset_Forfeiture_in_California.pdf

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 7

Due Process

he presumption of innocence is a foundational principle of the American legal system. Although this principle
is not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights, legal
scholars have found its roots in the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth
Amendments.29
The Supreme Court, in the 1895 case, Coffin v. United States,30
firmly established the implied principle of a presumption of innocence, which, justices noted, dated back to Roman law and was
reflected in English common law. Justice Edward White, who
was appointed to the High Court by President Grover Cleveland, offered the legal background of the principle in his majority opinion in Coffin, and firmly stated its role in the American
legal system.
The principle that there is a presumption of innocence in favor
of the accused is the undoubted law, White wrote, axiomatic
and elementary, and its enforcement lies at the foundation of
the administration of our criminal law.
White called the presumption of innocence evidence in favor
of the accused and explained the meaning of guilt beyond a
reasonable as understood through centuries of law. It is, of
necessity, the condition of mind produced by the proof resulting
from the evidence in the cause, he explained. It is the result
of the proof, not the proof itself, whereas the presumption of
innocence is one of the instruments of proof, going to bring
about the proof from which reasonable doubt arises; thus one is
a cause, the other an effect.
To say that the one is the equivalent of the other is therefore
to say that legal evidence can be excluded from the jury, and
that such exclusion may be cured by instructing them correctly
in regard to the method by which they are required to reach
their conclusion upon the proof actually before them; in other
words, that the exclusion of an important element of proof can
be justified by correctly instructing as to the proof admitted. The
evolution of the principle of the presumption of innocence, and
its resultant, the doctrine of reasonable doubt, make more apparent the correctness of these views, and indicate the necessity of enforcing the one in order that the other may continue to
exist, White added.

Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, The Right of Privacy.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/rightofprivacy.html
29

Coffin v. United States, 162 U.S. 664 (1985). https://supreme.

justia.com/cases/federal/us/162/664/
30

The presumption of innocence is a feature of the American legal

system, not a bug. What civil law does is murky the water of this
foundational principle. Under criminal law, governments, which

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 8

bring charges, must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that

the accused is guilty of the alleged crime. But, under civil law,
the threshold is lower and can prove perilous for innocent individuals and their property.
The profit motive that exists under federal forfeiture law is worsened by the low standard of proof the government must meet
to subject property to forfeiture. Federal prosecutors need only
show a preponderance of the evidence to forfeit property.
Property that is seized is presumed guilty under federal forfeiture law. The property owner, who often is never even charged
with a crime, bears the burden of proof in federal civil asset forfeiture cases. Most walk away from their property, resulting in
administrative forfeiture.
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April 2015,
Darpana Sheth, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, noted
that from 2008 to 2013, 64 percent of all forfeitures were administrative, while only 14 percent were civil, with the remaining
22 percent criminal.31
Federal forfeiture statutes are not limited to drug crimes. Today, Sheth explained in her testimony, there are more than
400 federal forfeiture statutes relating to a number of federal
crimes, from environmental crimes to the failure to report currency transactions.
In an October 2014 analysis, the Washington Post determined
that no indictments were obtained in 81 percent of federal forfeiture cases.32
Innocent people are often negatively impacted. Joseph Rivers, a
22-year-old Michigan man, dreamed of pursuing a career in the
music industry.33 With the help of his family, he saved $16,000
and departed for Los Angeles in April 2015 to fulfill his dream.

Darpana Sheth, The Need to Reform Asset Forfeiture, Written Statement before the United States Senate Committee on
the Judiciary, April 15, 2015. http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/
imo/media/doc/04-15-15%20Sheth%20Testimony.pdf
31

Robert OHarrow Jr., et al. Asset seizures fuel police

spending, The Washington Post, October 11, 2014. http://www.
washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/10/11/asset-seizures-fuel-police-spending/
32

Christopher Ingraham, How the DEA took a young mans

life savings without ever charging him with a crime, The
Washington Post, May 11, 2015.
33

When his train arrived at a stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico,

agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration boarded the
train and singled him out. The agents quizzed him on his plans
and asked to search his bags. Believing he had nothing to hide,
Rivers consented to the search.
The agents found the $16,000 and seized it. Rivers pleaded
with them to let him keep the cash. He called his mother, who
corroborated his story. But the agents took the cash anyway, on

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 9

the suspicion that it was connected to drugs. Rivers was never

charged with a crime.
A spokesperson with the DEAs Albuquerque office later confirmed the injustice of federal forfeiture law. We dont have to
prove that the person is guilty, he said. Its that the money is
presumed to be guilty.34
The examples are not limited to train stations or traffic stops.
The Internal Revenue Service has also used federal forfeiture
statutes to seize bank accounts engaged in structuring.
The Bank Secrecy Act, a 1970 law meant to combat money laundering operations used to fund drug traffickers and terrorists, requires financial institutions to report to the federal government
cash deposits of $10,000 or more.35 Banks also report frequent
deposits under the reporting threshold.
Andrew Clyde, a Navy veteran and gun store owner in Athens,
Georgia, fell victim to abuse of federal forfeiture laws by the IRS
when $950,000 was seized from his bank account in April 2013
because he purportedly structured his deposits to evade the
reporting requirement.36
In 2012 and 2013, Clyde Armory saw a boom in business due
to concern that the administration and Congress would enact
more stringent gun control laws. He made frequent deposits under $10,000, below the federal reporting requirement, because,
his business insurance policy only covered off-premises losses
up to $10,000.

Walter Olson, We dont have to prove that the person is

guilty. Its that the money is presumed to be guilty, Overlawyered, May 11, 2015. http://overlawyered.com/2015/05/
we-dont-have-to-prove-that-the-person-is-guilty-its-that-themoney-is-presumed-to-be-guilty/
34

United States Department of the Treasury, History of

Anti-Money Laundering Laws. http://www.fincen.gov/
news_room/aml_history.html
35

Jim Thompson, Athens gun shop owner testifies to

Congress on asset seizure, Athens Banner-Herald, February
13, 2015. http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2015-02-12/
athens-gun-shop-owner-testifies-congress-asset-seizure

Clyde, who told his story in a February 2015 House Ways and
Means subcommittee hearing, wrestled with the IRS over his
money.37 He was never charged or convicted of a crime, but
his livelihood was still in jeopardy. I did not serve three combat
tours in Iraq only to come home and be extorted, he told the
committee. He eventually reached a settlement that required
him to forfeit $50,000, not including the $100,000 he paid in
legal fees, to get the remainder of his money back.

36

Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee to Address

IRS Abuse of Small Businesses, February 9, 2015. http://
marchant.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398041

This ploy became routine for the IRS. In a February 2015 report,
the Institute for Justice noted the IRS seized $242 million in approximately 2,500 structuring cases.38 In about a third of these
cases, no criminal activity other than structuring was suspected.

Dick M. Carpenter II and Larry Salzman, Seize First, Question Later: The IRS and Civil Forfeiture, Institute for Justice,
February 3, 2015. http://www.ij.org/seize-first-question-later

The Institute for Justice noted that the IRS was rather overzeal-

37

38

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 10

ous in its actions. Nearly half of the money seized by the IRS
was not forfeited, the report explained, raising concerns that
the IRS seized more than it could later justify to forfeit the cash.
There are many other examples of abuse of federal forfeiture
laws against innocent people. There are, of course, victories in
law by those who fought back against this pernicious form of
government overreach. But these victories often come after the
innocent property owner spends thousands of dollars to fight
the seizure and get their property back in a system where the
odds are stacked against them.
Although this publication focuses primarily on federal forfeiture history, a
separate FreedomWorks publicationCivil Asset Forfeiture: Grading the
Statesoffers a look at state forfeiture laws. In this publication, FreedomWorks found that only four states require a criminal conviction to forfeit property connected to a crime. Thirty-six states put the burden of proof on the
property owner. Only eight states require the government to carry the burden.

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 11

Federal Reform
39

Clinton signs Civil Asset Forfeiture Act into Law,

Credit Union Times, May 3, 2000. http://www.cutimes.
com/2000/05/03/clinton-signs-civil-asset-forfeiture-actinto-law
Rep. Henry Hyde, Forfeiting Our Property Rights: Is Your
Property Safe from Seizure?, Cato Institute, 1995. http://
object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/forfeting_our_
property_rights.pdf

n April 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the Civil Asset

Forfeiture Reform Act into law.39 A bipartisan effort, the bill
passed a Republican-controlled Congress with little opposition. It was intended to rein in abuse of federal forfeiture laws.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL), who
authored the bill, had criticized use of federal forfeiture laws.
In 1995, he authored a book, Forfeiting Our Property Rights: Is
Your Property Safe from Seizure, which was published by the
Cato Institute, perhaps the United States most prominent libertarian think tank.40
When he introduced the bill, the language was strong and clearly shifted forfeiture proceedings to provide more protections
to innocent property owners. But, as is often the cause in the
legislative process, the bill was watered down. The standard of
proof that the government must show was slightly raised to a
preponderance of the evidence, which, as noted above, is still
very low, but the burden to prove innocence remained on the
property owner.
Still, Hyde insisted that it was a worthwhile endeavor.
This bill is one we can all be proud of. It returns civil asset forfeiture to the ranks of respected law enforcement tools that can
be used without risk to the civil liberties and property rights of
American citizens, Hyde said while presenting the bill to the
lower chamber.41 We are all better off that this is so.
Former Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA), one of the leading members behind the effort, noted that Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform
Act was initially successful in limiting federal forfeitures. The
first year following CAFRAs passage did witness a significant
drop in the value of assets seized by the federal government
from nearly $313 million in 2000 to just under $200 million in
2001, Barr recalled in a December 2014 op-ed.42

40

Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000, Congressional

Record, April 11, 2000. http://www.fear.org/congrec041100.
html
41

Bob Barr, Asset Forfeiture Reform Redux, Huffington Post,

December 16, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-barr/
asset-forfeiture-reform-r_b_6333770.html
42

Attorney General Prohibits Federal Agency Adoptions of

Assets Seized by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies
Except Where Needed to Protect Public Safety, The United
States Department of Justice, January 16, 2015. http://www.
justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-prohibits-federal-agency-adoptions-assets-seized-state-and-local-law
43

The success did not last. As ever, Barr explained, Uncle Sam
has moved aggressively to make up that difference in recent
years; raking in more than $1.0 billion in forfeited civil assets in
2013 alone.
More recently, in January 2015, then-Attorney General Eric
Holder announced new restrictions on adoptive seizures and
the Justice Departments Equitable Sharing Program.43 While
the policy change received praise, it was a small move that did

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 12

not significantly impact abuse of federal forfeiture laws because

adoptive seizures are a small percentage of equitable sharing
payments.
[A]doptions, which the DOJ says represented about 3 percent
of deposits, accounted for less than 14 percent of equitable
sharing, Jacob Sullum explained.44 In other words, something
like 86 percent of the loot that state and local law enforcement
agencies receive through federal forfeitures will be unaffected
by Holders new policy.
In March 2015, the Department of Justice rolled out another
new policy change, this one dealing with federal forfeiture in
structuring offenses.45 Federal prosecutors must have probable
cause of some other federal crime before seizing a bank account involved in structuring
Although these administrative reforms are steps in the right direction, they can be changed by a future administration unless
Congress codifies them into law.
While lawmakers in Congress may not be moving quickly enough
on reforms to protect innocent people, states have begun to
address the issue in their own way. In April 2015, New Mexico,
for example, enacted a comprehensive reform law that not only
eliminates civil asset forfeiture from state law, requiring instead
a criminal conviction to forfeit property, but also restricting state
and local law enforcement from circumventing protections
through federal forfeiture laws.46
Other states, such as California47 and Pennsylvania,48 are considering similar reforms to restrict state and local law enforcement
from using federal law to skirt existing or proposed protections
for innocent property owners.
Jacob Sullum, How the Press Exaggerated Holders Forfeiture Reform, Reason, January 19, 2015. http://reason.com/
blog/2015/01/19/how-the-press-exaggerated-holders-forfei
44

Attorney General Restricts Use of Asset Forfeiture in Structuring Offenses, The United States Department of Justice,
March 31, 2015. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-restricts-use-asset-forfeiture-structuring-offenses
45

Scott Shackford, Great News: New Mexicos Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Signed by Governor, Reason, April 10, 2015.
http://reason.com/blog/2015/04/10/great-news-new-mexicos-asset-forfeiture
46

Shackford, Asset Forfeiture Reform Activists Mobilize as

California Assembly Takes Up Bill, Reason, July 13, 2015.
http://reason.com/blog/2015/07/13/asset-forfeiture-reform-activists-mobili
47

Holly Otterbein, This Bill Would Transform Civil Asset

Forfeiture in Pa., Philadelphia. http://www.phillymag.com/
news/2015/06/03/civil-asset-forfeiture-philadelphia/
48

From High Seas to Highway Robbery / 13

Reform Principles

deally, any federal civil asset forfeiture reform would require

a criminal conviction, which requires the government prove
beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of a
crime, to forfeit property connected to illicit activity. This standard, however, may prove too difficult to gain enough political
support.
At the very least, the standard of proof should be significantly
raised, perhaps to clear and convincing evidence, which requires proof that a claim is substantially more likely to be true
than false. The presumption of innocence should be fully restored, and the burden of proof should fall on the government.
The process by which property owners dispute forfeitures
should be made easier and allow for innocent owners to recoup
any legal expenses after successful proceedings.
Finally, the perverse profit motive often behind seizures should
be removed. The Department of Justices Equitable Sharing
Fund should be dissolved and all funds obtained under federal
forfeiture law should be placed into a neutral account, such as
the general fund of the United States.
These reforms would restore the due process rights guaranteed
by the Fifth Amendment and protect the property of law-abiding
citizens from government overreach.

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