NEW SEIZURE RULES

Attacking drug dealers with a vengeance was the motivation that prompted
seizure of their assets as early as possible in criminal cases. But as
sensible as such a policy seemed at the time, it's now prudent to
understand the abuses this law-enforcement permissiveness produced and to
rein it in.

That scrutiny has led to congressional passage of legislation that will
make it more difficult for prosecutors to seize money, homes, cars, boats,
and other property before trials begin or even before an arrest is made.

The law allowing seizures previously had been criticized by a U.S. Supreme
Court decision and had been the subject of congressional hearings, which
documented hardships that some of the seizures had produced. The proposed
new law broadens government's ability to discover and seize tainted assets
- - but only after the suspect has been convicted of a crime.

In too many cases, federal officials have swooped down on people who have
had little or nothing to do with criminal conduct. After having their
property seized, they've had to endure an onerous and often protracted
struggle to get it back from the government.

Just as repulsive is the notion that a person has to prove himself or
herself "innocent'' in the face of the government's requirement to show
probable cause that the property is subject to civil forfeiture - the same
standards required for a search warrant.

The quick seizure of property led to an unlikely coalition of the American
Civil Liberties Union, the National Rifle Association, the American Bankers
Association, and organizations representing pilots, boaters, and hoteliers
to push for the reform measure.

The new law will end the government's ability to seize property before an
arrest or indictment. It will create a higher standard of a connection
between the property and the crime "by a preponderance of the evidence,''
the minimal probable cause that now exists.

Mistakes and abuses too often marked the old policy, largely in the rush to
seize property and set an example. The change should help ensure that the
truly innocent are not trampled in the stampede.