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.