EXCESS OF THE DRUG WAR

Asset forfeiture is one of the scandals of the war on drugs. Police may
take your house, your boat or your car if they have probable cause to
believe that you used it in an illegal drug deal. They can take it if they
believe you intended to use it or let somebody else use it. The state does
not have to prove anything, convict you of anything, or even file charges
against you. It simply takes your property.

From 1996 to 2000, the Seattle Police Department seized $2,346,373 in
civil asset forfeitures. King County Police seized $1,813,057 and Tacoma
Police seized $1,725,387. Once the police take your property, they can sell
it. The state takes 10 percent of the money for drug education, but the
police department may keep 90 percent to fund normal operations.

Police say they do not seize property to make the budget, but to enforce
the law. They say it is a powerful tool to wield against drug dealers. No
doubt it is. No doubt it would be an even more powerful tool to let police
simply seize the dealers themselves and lock them up permanently. But a
centuries-old tradition tells us that we cannot summarily imprison
citizens. For the same reasons, we cannot summarily seize their property.

The Washington Constitution says, "No person shall be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law." The U.S. Constitution
says the same. In Oregon, voters passed an initiative to restrict civil
forfeiture.

In Olympia, a forfeiture-reform bill has been proposed by an unusual
left-right coalition, including state Sens. Dow Constantine, D-Seattle,
Adam Kline, D-Seattle, and Val Stevens, R-Arlington. It says that before
property can be taken, someone must have been convicted of a crime, and
that the property shall be found "by clear and convincing evidence to have
been instrumental in committing or facilitating the crime."

That some police have abused this power is beyond doubt. There have been
awful stories from Florida and Louisiana of police targeting out-of-state
drivers on the Interstates and seizing their cash or their cars with hardly
even probable cause. The power has been exercised more professionally here,
but it is still an illegitimate power that invites abuse. The Legislature
should take it away.