Is Trump a 'Fascist, Loofa-Faced, Shit-Gibbon' for Opposing Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform? (New Reason Podcast)
"The police don't have to even charge you with a crime to seize your stuff."
When Rockwall County Sheriff Harold Eavenson told Donald Trump that a state senator was pushing civil asset forfeiture reform in Texas, the president responded: "Who is the state senator? Want to give his name? We'll destroy his career."
That prompted Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach (D-District 17) to tweet:
Hey @realDonaldTrump I oppose civil asset forfeiture too! Why don't you try to destroy my career you fascist, loofa-faced, shit-gibbon!
— Daylin Leach (@daylinleach) February 7, 2017
So what is this legal process prompting threats of career destruction? In our latest Reason podcast, Nick Gillespie chats with Reason criminal justice reporter C.J. Ciaramella about the history of civil asset forfeiture and the prospects for reform now that Jeff Sessions has been confirmed as attorney general. Topics include: how asset forfeiture went on steroids in the 1980s with the escalation of the drug war, Reason's longtime coverage of the issue (see a 1999 article by Michelle Malkin), and Ciaramella's recent story, "Inside Mississippi's Asset Forfeiture Extortion Racket."
Click below to listen to that conversation—and subscribe to our podcast at iTunes.
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