A bill banning the confiscation of citizens' property solely on 'crime-related suspicions' is submitted in the United States



In many states of the United States, police can confiscate assets from unofficially charged citizens, and over the last two decades, $ 68.8 billion in civil assets have been sent to police. There is also a (PDF file)

survey result that it was confiscated. Republican Justin Amash , a member of the Michigan State Assembly, has submitted the Civil Asset Forfeiture Elimination Act to end the situation where police can confiscate unreasonable assets.

Amash introduces bill to eliminate civil asset forfeiture | US Representative Justin Amash
https://amash.house.gov/media/press-releases/amash-introduces-bill-eliminate-civil-asset-forfeiture



Michigan rep introduces bill to end civil asset forfeiture | Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/us/amash-bill-end-civil-asset-forfeiture

Justin Amash Introduces Bill To End Civil Asset Forfeiture Nationwide – Reason.com
https://reason.com/2020/12/17/justin-amash-introduces-bill-to-end-civil-asset-forfeiture-nationwide/

Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the United States can seize an asset if it believes it has been used in connection with an illegal activity. Police claim that property confiscation is necessary to fight criminals, but in many cases asset confiscation is based solely on 'suspicion.'

A South Carolina survey of civil property confiscation found that 4,000 people have been confiscated in the last three years, while about one-fifth, or about 800, have been confiscated for crimes. It turns out that he has not been charged. Another 800 were acquitted in court, although they were charged with crime.

According to Fox News, people such as large criminal organizations and drug kings are rarely subject to confiscation of civil assets, with an average asset confiscation of only $ 1276. Most cases are related to relatively minor crimes. Fox News says that many people are willing to pay the court costs to seek the return of confiscated assets, with only about 22% of the total demanding the return of assets.



In a 2016 case in Oklahoma, Myanmar's Christian music band manager Eh Wah called out to police during an American tour because 'the taillights of a car are broken.' Was done. At this time, because the drug detection dog reacted to Mr. Wah's car, the police seized about 53,000 dollars (about 5.5 million yen) of sales of the band in the car on suspicion related to drug trading. .. The sales were planned to be donated to a Christian school in Myanmar and an orphanage in Thailand.

No drugs or related tools were found in Wah's car, but police still charged Wah. When an article about the case was published, many people called the prosecution to protest, and

Muskogee County District Attorney Orvil Loge eventually withdrew Wah's indictment. Lawyer is Dan Alban said, 'the role of the prosecutor is not after the indictment, I think that would be to determine whether it is possible to fulfill the burden of proof before the indictment' and says .

Also, criminal seizures are not necessarily limited to assets owned by the suspect. In 2017, a BMW owned by a Vietnamese veteran man was confiscated because his son drove to the scene of a drug trade.

BMW was returned thanks to the American Civil Liberties Union 's defense, but the man said, 'I have the highest respect for law enforcement, but Article 4 of the Constitutional Amendment should make sense.' comment. He claimed that the unreasonable confiscation of assets by police violated the rights of citizens, as stated in Article 4 of the Constitutional Amendment.

In 2019, Kevin McBride, who lives in Arizona, lent a jeep to a girlfriend who said, 'I want to go to a convenience store to buy a drink,' because the girlfriend sold marijuana to a masked police officer in a convenience store parking lot. Was arrested. In connection with this, the jeep that McBride lent to his girlfriend was confiscated by police for being 'used for drug trafficking,' and McBride pays $ 1,900 instead of returning the jeep. It is said that it is required .



To end the unreasonable confiscation of civil property by police, Arizona Capitol Amash submitted the Civil Property Forfeiture Elimination Act to Congress on December 17, 2020. The bill prohibits law enforcement from confiscating property unless law enforcement convicts the suspect in court or proves through a civil suit that the property owner has committed a confiscation-worthy offense. I am.

Regarding the confiscation of civil assets by law enforcement agencies, Amash claimed that 'the confiscation of civil assets was a violation of proper procedures.' As stipulated in Article 4 of the Constitutional Amendment, confiscation of citizens' assets without proper judicial proceedings is prohibited by United States law and denies citizens' procedural rights. I'm criticizing.

According to the National Conference of State Legislators , confiscation of civil assets is prohibited in three of the 50 states in the United States, and 11 states require criminal conviction to confiscate assets. Ultimately, Amash said he hopes to outlaw the unreasonable confiscation of civil property in all states of the United States.



in Note, Posted by log1h_ik