Civil Asset Forfeiture is a despicable practice that places the civil liberties of the people in jeopardy by affording law enforcement the power to violate their rights and confiscate their property even though that individual hasn't been charged or convicted or any wrongdoing.
Many people have had their cars taken, cash, houses, and more, because the police have accused them and their property of being associated with criminal activity.
There are thousands of homes and vehicles that have been taken. For those who have fallen victim to this controversial practice, it's costed them dearly to try and fight for their rights and to have their property returned to them. In several cases those individuals eventually do have their property returned because they had never been charged with any wrongdoing, yet the entire process they are put through can cost them their job, their reputation, and more.
Law enforcement leaders claim that it's a necessary tool to fight crime, but the policy erodes the relationship between the police and the community after those individuals in the community have their property taken away from them when they've done nothing wrong.
A majority of the people who are targeted under civil asset forfeiture are innocent.
For years now, asset forfeiture has surpassed burglaries with how much money it is helping to funnel into police departments and the state.
They've collected billions of dollars around the country.
This “tool” arguably isn't being used to fight crime, so much as it is being used against innocent people who were never charged or convicted of any wrongdoing.
How is it anything other than thievery and injustice for the state to be confiscating
billions of dollars from hardworking people who were never found guilty of any crime. In various regions, there have been efforts to push back against this practice and there are currently constitutional challenges in court underway against this legislation. But it still continues to this day in around the country and elsewhere in the world.
Because of the weak transparency regarding stats on who is targeted etc, it's unknown exactly how many of those people might have never been charged or convicted of a crime. Texas isn't the only state
earning millions thanks to civil asset forfeiture and with that sort of financial incentive, can we blame them for not wanting to say goodbye?
Pics:
pic 1 - Texas Appleseed via Youtube
pic 2 - John Locke Foundation
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