The evil of civil forfeiture

Caitlin Grimes, Reporter

There is a threat to personal property rights occurring every day in this country. This threat to individual’s property is of course, civil forfeiture. This practice is a process by which the government can take and do what they want with your property without even seeking a conviction of a crime.

You heard me right, the government can take your property and dispose of it by any means it deems fit, all without even charging and finding you guilty of a crime. What makes it even worse is the police departments seizing this property can sell it and then pocket all of the money, incentivizing these departments to actively practice civil forfeiture.

How can this gross infraction be occurring right under the nose of everyday citizens? Civil forfeiture cases are processed under the basis that the property, may it be cash, homes, cars or even jewelry can be found “guilty” of a crime. In the eyes of our government, inanimate objects with no subconscious can be found guilty of crimes.

Recently The New York Times listened in on a few recordings of civil forfeiture seminars being conducted in police departments throughout the country. It found that not only were these seminars teaching seminars on how to obtain these “little goodies,” but also teaching officers how to be picky about the property they sought. The “experts” focused on cash and cars, because it was too difficult to dispose of jewelry.

The practice of civil forfeiture originally started as a way to tackle drug offenses, but now is being done for offenses such as drunk driving, shoplifting, solicitation and even statutory rape.

My issue is not that these crimes are horrible and need to be addressed but how the government seems to be tackling the problem. They are setting the illogical precedent that inanimate objects can be guilty of crimes, which if they make the standard, could even be used to take guns away from the public.

Objects do not have consciousness, personalities or any system by which to make decisions. They are simply the tools individuals use to meet and end, may it be illegal or legal in nature. The government should focus more on convicting and punishing criminals instead of stealing their tools of business, which can be easily replaced.

The biggest issue with civil forfeiture is that it encourages “policing for profit,” encouraging officers of the law to search for crimes to put against objects that they simply desire. One statistic that I came across stated 80 percent of people who had their property seized for forfeiture, were never charged with a crime.

Civil forfeiture is an evil practice being used in this country to fill rainy day funds used by police departments, some departments even allow for the officers to drive cars that have been seized. It is an infraction on individuals property rights and completely undermines are justice system. It is a crime being perpetrated by those who are supposed to protect against theft and it should be addressed as such.

Caitlin Grimes can be contacted at [email protected].