Mike Forster's Position Papers

End Forfeiture

Mike Forster, Palo Alto California
Copyright © 2002 Mike Forster

Forfeiture - the taking by the government of personal possessions just on the suspicion of criminal activity - should be repealed now.

Forfeiture laws violate basic civil rights. The US Bill of Rights guarantees that any person's property cannot be taken without due process of law. Western legal tradition holds that a person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. So, no person's property should be taken until that person is proven guility - not just because of suspicion.

Forfeiture laws also enable, and likely even encourage, abuse. Such laws provide a means for local and state law enforcement agencies to select citizens for suspicion, and then to benefit from taking their property without having to prove any wrongdoing.

The forfeiture laws may have provisions requiring the return of property to citizens wrongfully or mistakenly suspected. However, in practice, the bureaucratic process required by citizens to reclaim their own property is so difficult as to be impossible.

The US Supreme Court may have ruled that forfeiture laws are constitutional. However, a Supreme Court decision does not necessarily make a law right. In this case, the US Congress should repeal these laws, because they are wrong and dangerous to our liberties, whether the Supreme Court considers it constitutional or not.