The government confiscates more property from Americans annually than burglars do

Based Politics’ Hannah Cox writes, “Civil asset forfeiture is one of the more nefarious policies in play, but Americans remain largely unaware of it. This practice is found both federally and across most states. Under civil asset forfeiture laws, the police can take your property if they merely suspect you of a crime.

That’s right: They don’t have to charge, convict, or even arrest you before they can do this. And boy do they run with it. Whether it’s cash, jewelry, cars, or even people’s homes, the police seize and sell assets from Americans all the time. They then use the profits to boost their department’s budgets.

According to the Institute for Justice, states and the federal government confiscated at least $68.8 billion from citizens from 2000 to 2020. (And that’s just what we can track!)”

Read the entire column.