Prosecution for Profit

The Institute for Justice is trying to get three district attorneys in Utah to obey the law. According to a January report from State Auditor Auston G. Johnson, the prosecutors are "disregarding" Initiative B, a voter-approved law requiring that proceeds from forfeitures go to education and crime victims rather than law enforcement agencies. The initiative, approved in 2000 by 69 percent of voters, was aimed at eliminating the perverse incentives created when police and prosecutors have a financial stake in forfeiture cases. But the district attorneys of Weber, Salt Lake, and Davis counties decided to keep at least $237,000 in forfeiture money anyway. Now the Institute for Justice, which successfully fought New Jersey's practice of giving forfeiture money to law enforcement agencies, is demanding that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, a leading opponent of Initiative B, make sure it's obeyed.