A countless number of law-abiding American's lose thousands of their legally acquired cash because of faulty civil forfeiture laws that allow law enforcement to walk away with it. The law began with good intention-to prevent people from profiting from their crimes reduces crime. Nonetheless, any good intention is lost when the agencies who confiscated the property don't return it to the innocent-because the accused then become the victims.
What is "Civil Forfeiture?"
Civil forfeiture is an oxymoron because there's nothing 'courteous and polite' about it. City, state, and federal authorities use the legal term to seize any citizen's tangible assets. That includes items such as cash and larger assets such as motor vehicles, furniture, jewelry, or anything that doesn't exceed $500,000 in value.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice's …show more content…
Consider the most recent story of civil forfeiture that's made the news, Charles Clarke, a student traveling from Kentucky to Florida didn't make it through the Kentucky airport because the $11,000 cash he had on him became the subject of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The airport detective and DEA agents used the money as probable cause to use drug dogs, which smelled the scent of marijuana. Although they didn't find any drugs or drug residue, the scent alone was enough for the DEA to seize the cash.
Clarke admits to smoking a marijuana joint on the way to the airport, but insists the money confiscated in February 2014 came from all legal avenues, including earned wages, financial aid, and gifts from family members. He is still fighting to get his money back, but luckily, for Clarke, the Institute for Justice (IJ) a nonprofit group took his case this month and is fighting alongside him to reclaim that money. IJ Attorney Renée Flaherty
What is "Civil Forfeiture?"
Civil forfeiture is an oxymoron because there's nothing 'courteous and polite' about it. City, state, and federal authorities use the legal term to seize any citizen's tangible assets. That includes items such as cash and larger assets such as motor vehicles, furniture, jewelry, or anything that doesn't exceed $500,000 in value.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice's …show more content…
Consider the most recent story of civil forfeiture that's made the news, Charles Clarke, a student traveling from Kentucky to Florida didn't make it through the Kentucky airport because the $11,000 cash he had on him became the subject of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The airport detective and DEA agents used the money as probable cause to use drug dogs, which smelled the scent of marijuana. Although they didn't find any drugs or drug residue, the scent alone was enough for the DEA to seize the cash.
Clarke admits to smoking a marijuana joint on the way to the airport, but insists the money confiscated in February 2014 came from all legal avenues, including earned wages, financial aid, and gifts from family members. He is still fighting to get his money back, but luckily, for Clarke, the Institute for Justice (IJ) a nonprofit group took his case this month and is fighting alongside him to reclaim that money. IJ Attorney Renée Flaherty