Abolish civil asset forfeiture

My legislation would end this injustice. https://t.co/yImxpjXAMn

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 19, 2022

From Forbes: “Amid the surge of interest in police reform following the killing of George Floyd, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) reintroduced the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act last week, which would enact a sweeping overhaul of federal civil forfeiture laws. Among its many critical reforms, the FAIR Act (S. 4074) would redress many of the problems with civil forfeiture and abolish its most abusive form.

Under ‘nonjudicial’ or ‘administrative’ civil forfeiture, not only can the federal government confiscate property without filing criminal charges, owners can permanently lose their property without a judge ever hearing their case. Instead of impartial judicial review, the fate of a seized property is decided by the seizing agency itself. Worse, agencies have a direct financial incentive to forfeit property: Under federal law, they can keep up to 100% of the forfeiture proceeds.

A wide swath of property valued at less than $500,000 can be forfeited administratively, including bank accounts, cash, cryptocurrency, art, antiques, furniture, and jewelry, as well as any vehicle, boat, or aircraft. As a result, unless an owner swiftly challenges a seizure, administrative forfeiture is typically the default process on the federal level. And since hiring an attorney to fight back in court often costs more than what the seized property is worth, many owners are forced to walk away.

‘The federal government has made it far too easy for government agencies to take and profit from the property of those who have not been convicted of a crime,’ Sen. Paul said in a statement. ‘The FAIR Act will uphold the Fifth Amendment and ensure government agencies no longer profit from taking American citizens’ property without due process. It will guard against abuse while maintaining the ability of courts to order the surrender of proceeds of crime.”

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