Since 2007, federal drug agents have seized $3.2 billion in cash from Americans never charged with a crime as part of a controversial asset forfeiture program, according to a newly released Department of Justice report.
The report, by the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General, also noted that the Drug Enforcement Agency doesn’t collect any data to determine whether the seizures are lowering crime or increasing civil rights violations.
Congressman Darrell Issa, R-Vista, has co-sponsored a bill to better regulate the asset forfeiture program.
“In too many cases, civil forfeiture has wrongfully harmed innocent Americans through loss of property rights and due process,” Issa said in a statement. “What was once intended to ensure drug dealers couldn’t keep the fruits of their illegal activities has now become distorted by the government to permanently seize property from innocent Americans, often with little recourse or proof of wrongdoing.”
Issa’s bill raises the burden of proof for the government to keep the seized cash, gives claimants the opportunity to quickly contest seizures, improves transparency, and makes many long-overdue improvements to help rein in instances of misuse.
“Forfeiture reform has quickly become one of our best opportunities for bipartisan achievement in criminal justice reform. I look forward to the swift passage of these important updates to protect due process,” Issa said.
Issa is working with Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin.
The federal asset forfeiture program, known as “equitable sharing,” generated $688 million for California police between 2000 and 2013, according to an analysis by the Orange County Register. The money, confiscated in some cases during traffic stops without so much as a warrant, often ends up paying for police overtime. Those rules have prompted some critics to describe the practice as “policing for profit.”
Orange County’s drug task force received 8 percent of all California agencies, $53 million during the 13-year-period. The Anaheim Police Department alone received 3 percent, with $21.7 million.
Contact the writer: tsaavedra@scng.com
