Cristal Starling lost $8,000 after she missed one of several filing deadlines to contest the seizure of her money by police. A federal appeals court says she and others like her should be given more leeway.
Civil forfeiture is a highly unaccountable practice. The justices have the opportunity to make it a bit less so.
The FAIR Act would be a significant step forward. It just passed the House Judiciary Committee on a unanimous 26-0 vote.
The FAIR Act includes several substantial reforms that would make it harder to take property from innocent owners through civil forfeiture.
Police have a long history of using the real or imagined smell of marijuana to justify outrageous invasions.
Just about everybody agrees the practice is legalized theft, but cops and prosecutors oppose change.
The Brookside Police Department’s shakedown of travelers became a national news story and prompted federal lawsuits.
The Court will determine whether the Due Process Clause prevents the government from using asset forfeiture to seize property and hold it for many months without a timely hearing.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two consolidated cases by Alabama women whose cars were both seized for more than a year before courts found they were innocent owners.
'Digidog is out of the pound," New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared, not ominously.
Police detectives accused Jerry Johnson of being a drug trafficker and seized cash he says he intended to use to buy a semitruck at auction. He was never charged with a crime.
The Institute for Justice says Robert Reeves' First Amendment rights were violated when prosecutors filed and refiled baseless felony charges against him after he sued to get his car back.
One guy with gambling debts is a news story, but a formal policy of legalized theft is a national scandal.
Plus: What's going on with Iran's morality police? Two more days to give to Reason's 2022 webathon, and more...
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California police seized more than $17,000 from Vera and Apollonia Ward and accused them of laundering drug money, all without charging them with a crime. The two sisters were trying to start a dog-breeding business.
Even in cases that hinged on the trustworthiness of demonstrably untrustworthy cops, people are still waiting to get their money back.
The Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in Timbs v. Indiana revived the Excessive Fines Clause. Now state courts have to come up with tests to determine what's excessive.
Judge Gary Klausner admits that the FBI probably hid their true motives in rifling through the contents of hundreds of safe deposit boxes, but says that's fine.
Michigan is now a more dangerous place for anyone who flies with large amounts of cash.
Sarra's name was added to the government's official list of unfit caretakers after she briefly ran an errand without her kids in tow.
The Harris County, Texas, District Attorney's Office oversees civil forfeitures that make a mockery of justice.
An Americans for Prosperity Foundation report found that less than a quarter of people who had property seized through asset forfeiture by Kansas police were ever convicted of a crime.
The change represents a substantial reversal of civil forfeiture reforms aimed at protecting innocent property owners.
"Extortion, there's no other way to explain it," the couple's attorney says.
As law enforcement agencies patrol for profit, the secrecy surrounding cash seizures must stop.
The settlement came after the Justice Department agreed to return more than $1 million in proceeds from state-licensed marijuana businesses in California.
Empyreal Logistics agreed to drop its claims against the Justice Department, but it is still suing San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus.
Going after oligarchs breathes new life into sketchy asset forfeiture powers.
After Rochester police took her cash, Cristal Starling found out just how hard it is to challenge civil asset forfeiture in court.
Terry Abbott couldn't afford representation, because the state took the cash he'd use to pay for it.
Turning in your innocent friends and neighbors for having large amounts of cash is touted as a new source of income by the FBI.
"This is very bad for property rights."
The punishment is a bit rich considering the government's own mishandling of pandemic cash.
Patrick Card's story is a case study in how the state uses civil forfeiture to try to coerce plea bargains.
A new bill in Kansas seeks to make it harder for cops to seize assets without a criminal conviction.
"It's completely changed my belief in fairness," says Amy Sterner Nelson.
Police seized more than $100,000 in cash from a 25-year-old Chicago woman for not correctly describing what her suitcase looked like.
San Bernardino County deputies stopped the same armored-car driver twice and took nearly $1.1 million in cash owned by legal marijuana dispensaries.
A federal judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order, saying the evidence of legal violations is insufficient at this point.
Last week, Chief Mike Jones defended his campaign of fining everybody in sight. This week, he resigned.
Brookside officers have been accused of fabricating violations and are being sued.
The Institute for Justice argues that the seizures violated state law, federal law, and the U.S. Constitution.