Forfeiture Reform
Stopping police seizures
Medical marijuana growers face forfeiture.
Hot goods orders being used by the feds in attack on blueberry growers in the Pacific Northwest.
The agency's new, more enlightened "structuring" policy seems to have a big loophole.
The bill, now before the state Senate, requires a criminal conviction to complete a forfeiture.
The changes may affect about a quarter of equitable sharing forfeitures and less than a tenth of proceeds.
Federal rule change won't stop locals from 'policing for profit'
Says 'Mrs. Lynch has a track-record of violating the individual freedoms granted to us by our Constitution.'
Civil forfeiture and money laundering laws let the IRS seize the accounts of legitimate businesses.
The IRS seized $242 million between 2005 and 2012 based on allegations of "structuring."
Long Island business had nearly half a million seized for more than two years without any court filing.
Exaggerations of Holder's reform make her job harder.
The FAIR Act gives owners more protection and reduces law enforcement's profit motive.
Less loot means higher taxes, cops warn.
Eric Holder's new forfeiture policy affects only a small share of seizures.
How the press exaggerated the attorney general's policy shift
For two and a half years, Loretta Lynch's office kept cash but never pressed any charges.
Eric Holder's forfeiture reform is welcome but does not go nearly far enough.
The change leaves untouched the vast majority of loot that state and local agencies get from federal asset grabs.
An exception for joint task forces allows evasion of state property protections.
Patient says "there's no such thing as innocent until proven guilty"
The DOJ program allowed police and prosecutors to bypass state limits on asset seizures.
Eric Holder finally listens.
System was rife with abuse, encouraging law enforcement agencies to take people's property without charging them with crimes.
The Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act would help take the profit motive out of law enforcement
When it comes to alcohol laws, Pennsylvania is about as close to Saudi Arabia as you can get in America.
The IRS's latest abuse is seizing the bank accounts of people the agency deems suspicious.
A Virginia lawmaker takes on policing for profit.
Two cases give the Supreme Court a chance to limit cops' broad power to stop and search your car.