Our country, the United States of America, is assumed to be the land
of the free. However, one hidden law, civil forfeiture, has been
robbing us of our constitutional rights.

Civil forfeiture laws are now being used more and more to take
innocent citizens' property.

Federal and local law enforcement agencies have the right to seize
your home, car, money - without arrest. They need only "probable cause."

They may keep your property by charging it with a crime, and since
objects have no civil rights, it is nearly impossible to prove it innocent.

Civil forfeiture violates your constitutional rights.

It provides incentive for law officials to continue to seize innocent
Americans' property.

With federal and local law enforcement agencies in charge of all
seizures, our country now represents more of a "police state" rather
than a "society state" with civil rights.

Law enforcement is entitled to keep 80 percent of all property they
arrest, with only 20 percent going to future drug prevention.

This is adding incentive for law officials to make many unnecessary
seizures. Although this law is violating our Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and
Eighth amendments, there are things we can do about it. "The Civil
Asset Forfeiture Reform Act" puts the burden of proof back where it
belongs, on the government.

We, as a community, need to support this act by lobbying against civil
forfeiture as it is today.

We also need to ask ourselves why our congressmen and Speaker of the
House Dennis Hastert are not taking action against this.

If he does not take action soon, we may see our country descending
into a police-ruled society, rather than the free democracy it should
be.

Kate Sullivan Batavia