FORFEITURE

Property Grabs Grossly Wrong

Colorado's law enforcement agencies can and do confiscate substantial
property from citizens who have not been convicted of, or even charged
with, any crime. This blatant highway robbery is in gross violation of the
Bill of Rights, in particular, the Fifth Amendment.

Are you paying attention? Even if you are completely innocent and have paid
your taxes, your car and your home are not legally secure from confiscation!

Even more, the very law enforcement agencies committing this legal theft
often get to keep the seized property for their own use. This has a
corrupting effect on law enforcement, to the grave detriment of us all.

The Colorado Legislature is now pondering whether to stop violating the
Bill of Rights in this way. A new bill, "Concerning Civil Forfeiture,"
would make it much more difficult for governments in Colorado to confiscate
the property of innocent citizens.

You can read the bill, HB 1404, at www.state.co.us . It is a significant
improvement over the train wreck of current law in this area. Please ask
your legislators to pass it.

I thank Shawn Mitchell and Bill Thiebaut for introducing this bill, as well
as many Libertarian Party members who are publicly supporting it.

Jack Rudd

Boulder