CONGRESS
REINTRODUCES BIPARTISAN ASSET FORFEITURE REFORM
LEGISLATION
FAIR
Act Would End DOJ Equitable Sharing Program
Washington D.C. –
Yesterday, both houses of Congress reintroduced S 255, the Fifth
Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act, a bipartisan bill that would end the Justice Department’s Equitable
Sharing Program, which incentivizes state and local law enforcement to seize
private property without charging anyone with a crime in a process called
civil asset
forfeiture.
Reintroduction of the FAIR Act comes only days after Attorney General
Eric Holder announced an end to some kinds of forfeiture. Unfortunately, while
Holder’s announcement is a step in the right direction, it only addresses about 14% of the total amount of seizures in
question. An exception to the reforms announced on January 16th allows
state and local officers to exercise civil asset forfeiture practices if they’re
involved in a multijurisdictional task force that includes federal enforcement,
such as the Drug Enforcement Agency. Because federal agencies are so frequently
involved in civil asset seizures, state and local law enforcement can still keep about
86% of the money taken from otherwise innocent civilians. The FAIR Act
however, would end the Equitable Sharing Program entirely.
“The FAIR Act is precisely what we’ve been advocating since Holder’s
announcement,” said Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.), executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. “If this bill passes, it would topple a huge cornerstone of the drug
war infrastructure that erodes community trust in police, promotes corruption
within the ranks and distracts cops from doing their jobs. Once this incentive
is gone, cops can spend their time protecting communities from truly dangerous
criminals instead of taking money from innocent
people.”
The
FAIR Act was introduced to the Senate by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Angus King
(I-ME) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). An identical version of the bill was introduced
in the House by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Rep.
Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Rep. Tom McClintock
(R-CA).
Since the 1980s, the drug war has been used as justification for
continuing and expanding the Equitable Sharing Program. A court may allow for assets to be seized, including boats, cars,
property and cash associated with the crime. But, in some places such as Washington D.C.,
the amount of money seized is almost never associated with a crime.
Since 2009, Washington D.C. police have seized more than $5.5 million in
cash, yet half of that money was seized in increments of $141 or
less. False accusations of drug
possession are consistently used as probable cause. Assets
seized are then permitted to be used and misused by the department for anything
they see fit, including new equipment upgrades, football tickets or “food, gifts and
entertainment” for the department.
Civil asset forfeiture currently requires that there be “preponderance of
evidence,” rather than “guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” which means far less
evidence is needed to charge the property. The Fair Act would establish that
“clear and convincing evidence” be present in order to charge the property with
a crime, and that the owner “used the property with the intent to facilitate the
offense.”
LEAP
is a nonprofit of criminal justice professionals who know the war on drugs has
created a public safety nightmare of increased gang violence, police
militarization and the fueling of dangerous underground markets.
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