Thanks to Jeff Sessions, Police Can Now Seize Your Cash and Property If You’re Only Accused of a Crime

Want to know why civil forfeiture is rife with the possibility for abuse?  The Washington Post reports what common sense already tells you:

A Washington Post investigation in 2014 found that state and local police had seized almost $2.5 billion from motorists and others without search warrants or indictments since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Post series revealed that police routinely stopped drivers for minor traffic infractions, pressed them to agree to searches without warrants and seized large amounts of cash when there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

Police then spent the proceeds from the seizure with little oversight, according to the Post investigation. In some cases, the police bought luxury cars, high-powered weapons and armored cars.

In fact, the problem had gotten so large that the Obama administration’s Eric Holder stopped state and local police from seizing property and cash from people who had merely been accused of crimes. But, just two years later, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reversing that prohibition:

The new policy from Attorney General Jeff Sessions authorizes federal “adoption” of assets seized by state and local police when the conduct that led to the seizures violates federal law. Rosenstein said that the department is adding safeguards to ensure that police have sufficient evidence of criminal activity when property is seized. Property owners will receive notice of their rights within 45 days, which is twice as quickly as required by current law. Law enforcement agencies will be required to provide officers with more training on asset forfeiture laws, he said.

“Adoption?”  Nice way to cloak the actual abuse with a pleasant sounding word.  The police don’t need to be “adopting” $3 billion worth of our property and splitting the proceeds.

This is a terrible decision by Sessions.  The government needs less power, not more.  This goes to show that no matter who is in the Oval Office, the federal government grows and becomes more power-hungry.  To stop this federal overreach, we must call a Convention of States as described in Article V of the Constitution.  (To learn more about this exciting movement, click here.)

Watch Session describe the new policies below.  Though they say they will “ensure that police have sufficient evidence of criminal activity when property is seized,” just imagine how easily this new system can be rigged against the average American.

Pathetic.

Image Credit: Thomas Hawk on Flickr