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Monday, February 01, 2010
Law - "Asset Forfeiture: 'A License to Steal'”
Updating earlier ILB entries on Alvarez v. Smith, Ilya Somin has this entry today in The Volokh Conspiracy on "the asset forfeiture system, which often allows police to seize property without compensation — even in cases where the owners have not been convicted of any crime." He continues:
In many cases, the authorities hold on to the seized property for months at a time without giving innocent owners any opportunity to contest the seizure whatsoever. If that isn’t deprivation of property without “due process,” it’s hard to see what is. The Supreme Court recently passed up an opportunity to curb asset forfeiture abuses in Alvarez v. Smith, which I wrote about in this Findlaw column written before the Court threw out the case on procedural grounds. Hopefully, the issue will make its way back to the Supremes, and they will see fit to give innocent property owners at least some protection for their constitutional rights.I am not optimistic that the political process will protect these rights on its own. As Radley explains, police departments and prosecutors in many areas have a vested interest in perpetuating these practices. In addition, most of the people whose property is seized in this way are relatively poor and lacking in political influence. There have been a few modest reforms over the years. But for reasons Radley outlines, they have only addressed a small part of the problem.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 1, 2010 08:27 AM
Posted to General Law Related