NEW SEIZURE LAW MAY CURB ABUSE

A new law that will make it tougher for federal law-enforcement agencies to
seize private property is a step in the right direction.

The existing law resulted in widespread and well-documented abuse by
law-enforcement agencies throughout the country.

The forfeiture laws came into being as an additional weapon to fight the war
on drugs, but they went too far and gave law-enforcement agencies and
prosecutors too much power to seize homes, money, cars, boats and other
property without adequate safeguards.

The seizures occur prior to trial. Even if a person is found not guilty, he
doesn’t necessarily get his property back because the standard for the
seizure is lower than the standard for conviction.

The new law requires the government to show "by a preponderance of the
evidence," not just by probable cause as at present, that there was a
substantial connection between the property and the crime.

The new law also expands possible defenses and awards attorneys’ fees to
owners who successfully challenge the seizure of their property. A provision
that now requires the owners of seized property to post a bond to challenge
the forfeiture of the property also was eliminated by the new federal law.

The new law, recently approved by Congress, is a compromise. While it
imposes significant new safeguards for citizens, it also expands the
government’s authority to discover tainted assets and to seize property in
connection with crimes in which seizure is not currently an option after
convictions in those cases.

The right to own property free from arbitrary government seizure is a
fundamental tenet of American life.

We believe the new federal law is a good step and hope it will rein in some
of the abuses.