NOBLE CAUSE NO MORE

To the Editor:

Colorado's forfeiture statutes were designed to take assets from drug
kingpins and use the proceeds to fight crime. Initially this was a noble
cause, but the statutes have created very negative and unintended
consequences. They allow courts to take property from people who have not
been convicted or even charged with a crime.

When law enforcement does not have enough evidence to obtain a criminal
conviction, it is much easier to proceed with a civil asset seizure. Civil
matters are easier to prosecute because they do not risk incarceration of
the property owner.

Our constitutional Bill of Rights protections apply only to the individual,
not his property. In civil asset forfeiture, the property itself, rather
than its owner, is charged with the offense of being involved in an illegal
activity.

Under current civil forfeiture laws there is no presumption of innocence
until proven guilty; no right to a trial by jury; no right to appointment
of an attorney for indigent owners and no protections against double jeopardy.

Colorado's House Bill 1404 will assure property owners a greater degree of
protection and will require clear and convincing evidence before forfeiture
can proceed. Money and property seized will be used to support substance
abuse treatment and prevention programs with a 25 percent bounty going to
the seizing agency.

The current system allows law enforcement to keep all of the money and some
agencies are not even required to report what they have seized!

Property ownership is a fundamental condition of our free society. Let's
not sacrifice any more of our constitutional protections to the misdirected
and counterproductive war on drugs.

Robert Wiley

Colorado Springs