CIVIL WRONGS

Initiative To Curb Civil Forfeiture Is Wrong Tactic For The Right Fight

Opponents of civil forfeiture laws, which allow police to seize personal
property even if the owner has not been convicted of a crime, face a
tougher sell in post-Sept. 11 America.

The laws as written have been used mostly in narcotics cases, under the
rationale that taking away a dealer's home, cars and money is a good way to
shut down the drug pipeline. But law enforcement officials will surely
invoke the specter of terrorism as a reason to continue the practice.

Wisely, the reformers in Washington state are taking aim specifically at
drug crimes. Emboldened by last week's passage of three statewide ballot
measures, they're hoping to use the power of initiative to force the
Legislature into action. Initiative 256 would require a criminal conviction
before any owner's assets could be seized and would mandate the sale, not
government use, of forfeited property.

Even if the initiative doesn't gain the required 198,000 signatures by
January, state lawmakers should move quickly to curtail civil forfeiture in
drug cases. It's a practice that not only violates due process but also is
ripe for abuse.

Under current law, police have wide latitude to seize an individual's
property simply by demonstrating probable cause that the person committed a
crime. No need to wait for an actual trial and guilty verdict; under the
probable-cause standard, mere suspicion is good enough for confiscation.

Worse, current law allows the local law enforcement agency to keep 90
percent of the value of whatever it confiscates. The practice has become a
big business: Statewide, civil forfeiture generates an average of $4
million a year. In the nine years ending with 2000, the Clark County
Sheriff's Office, Vancouver Police Department and Clark- Skamania Drug Task
Force alone collected a total of about $2.4 million from suspected drug
dealers.

Such a lucrative practice threatens to put profit ahead of justice.

It's unfortunate that the Legislature hasn't scrapped civil forfeiture
already. Lawmaker had the opportunity last session with Senate Bill 5935,
which enjoyed bipartisan support but never emerged from the limbo of the
Senate Rules Committee.

Initiative 256 closely mirrors SB 5935, with a few exceptions. Instead of
redirecting half the local proceeds from seized property to the state crime
laboratory, for example, the initiative would send that money to the public
school fund.

As always, lawmaking by initiative creates fertile ground for unintended
consequences. The actual text of the measure weighs in at almost 5,700
words. That's more than all the words on this and the page opposite
combined. How many voters will actually take the time to read the entire
initiative before signing?

If initiative backers manage to collect the requisite signatures, the
Legislature will be required either to adopt the initiative, to put it on
the ballot or to draft its own alternative, with both versions going to a
public vote.

Voters should take a pass on the petitions. But lawmakers had better
demonstrate that an initiative isn't needed.