A recent settlement has been reached in Philadelphia which will result in the city paying millions of dollars back to people who have been victimized under civil asset forfeiture legislation.
Ultimately, they are expected to slightly dismantle the controversial program, which has been seen as a huge win for liberty advocates and for all people in the region who won't have to worry any longer about as many risks associated with this sort of
policing for profit tactic.
The decision comes as a result of a class action lawsuit that was launched against the city, challenging its controversial forfeiture program.
Civil asset forfeiture breeds an environment that risks incredible violations to natural rights, by enabling law enforcement to confiscate a myriad of private property assets without having to secure any conviction beforehand. This means that there are many people who could have thousands of dollars taken from them, their entire home even, despite never being charged or convicted of any wrongdoing. It's a despicable practice which thankfully has been
increasingly challenged around the country in recent years and in some circumstances people have had their property returned.
Over the years, the asset forfeiture program in Philadelphia alone has enabled law enforcement there to confiscate thousands of
homes, cars, plenty of cash, and more. For those who have had their property taken in this disgraceful manner, they could be seeing a portion of that $3 million coming back to them sometime soon. It's alleged that they will be looking to implement a variety of changes going forward, including a new
limit on how much property can be seized, along with increased supervision of those seizures.
Considering that this program helped them to pull in millions of dollars every year, it's not that much of a penalty that they're ultimately paying back to the victims. And we have to only hope that the oversight is going to be efficient enough to ensure that Constitutional and unjust violations aren't taking place any longer.
The city is also allegedly looking to stop using the resources that are confiscated under this legislation to fund their budget. They've claimed that no proceeds will go toward funding any police department budget any further. Among other promises, they also alleged that changes will include offering a prompt hearing for victims to request the return of their property that has been taken, and more.
The $3 million settlement being paid to victims? Those funds are expected to be coming from past civil asset forfeiture confiscations.
The fight against civil asset forfeiture is ongoing, as more lawsuits continue to be brought forth against the government over this program that has wrongfully
victimized far too many innocent Americans for too long.
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