Despite President Trump鈥檚 Support for Legalized Theft, Congress Presses on With Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform
鈥淲e鈥檒l destroy his career.鈥�
That鈥檚 what President about a Texas lawmaker who wanted to reform civil asset forfeiture, or the ability of cops to confiscate people鈥檚 property, often without convicting them of a crime. This raises a question: Will Trump also threaten the careers of federal legislators who speak out against and try to reform this un-American practice? There certainly is no shortage of forfeiture reform proponents. And a good number of them are members of the Republican Party.
According to a recent Cato Institute/YouGov poll, a substantial majority of Americans, 84 percent, oppose civil forfeiture.
Just this week, Republican and Democratic leadership of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee . This is on the heels of a that finds federal forfeitures 鈥渕ay not advance or relate to criminal investigations.鈥� DUE PROCESS stands for 鈥淒eterring Undue Enforcement by Protecting Rights of Citizens from Excessive Searches and Seizures Act.鈥� The bill provides protections, like the right to an attorney, for those facing forfeiture proceedings.
Essentially, the DUE PROCESS bill sponsors 鈥� Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.), and Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) 鈥� are saying: Don鈥檛 take away people鈥檚 stuff without due process. While the bill will help property owners navigate a legal process where the against them, it does not yet address forfeiture鈥檚 main attraction 鈥� the money. are generated annually through forfeiture, and in many cases, law enforcement get to 鈥�.鈥� The bill鈥檚 sponsors must consider this piece as the legislation advances. Other members of Congress have.
For instance, earlier this month, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.) introduced the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act or . This bill ( and ) not only addresses the procedural hurdles in forfeiture proceedings but the profit incentive driving forfeiture as well. The 老澳门开奖结果 supports this bill.
Civil forfeiture reform is a bipartisan issue. And that has long been the case. Whether it鈥檚 property rights or civil rights 鈥� or both 鈥� that brings one to the issue, all agree that civil asset forfeiture is not working. According to a recent Cato Institute/YouGov poll, a substantial majority of Americans, 84 percent, civil forfeiture.
Trump's comment about destroying someone鈥檚 career over forfeiture reform is just another example of his disconnect with the American people 鈥� and his own party 鈥� as well as his penchant for intimidation. The public has long known that civil asset forfeiture promotes unconstitutional policing, over-policing, biased policing, and . And we are glad that members of Congress and state lawmakers 鈥� on both sides of the aisle 鈥� recognize this, too, and remain undeterred on forfeiture reform.
