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IPFS News Link • Police Accountability Report

Why It's Nearly Impossible To Get Your Stuff Back After The Cops Seize It

• http://www.businessinsider.com

The unnerving video geared towards cops has been getting negative press recently amid a campaign by a public interest law firm to reform civil forfeiture, which lets the cops take cash or property they believe was tied to a crime even if its owner is never arrested.

After cops seize that property, you can technically fight for it in court. But one of the main takeaways from the Continuing Legal Education (CLE) video is that it's nearly impossible to win.

Civil forfeiture cases have a "signifcantly lower standard of proof" than criminal cases, an assistant prosecutor named Sean D. McMurtry said in the CLE video. When cops take your stuff or money, they have to file a bizarre-sounding lawsuit "against" the stuff. (One lawsuit was actually called "US v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins.")

In criminal cases, the government has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. But in civil forfeiture cases, as in all civil cases, prosecutors just have to show a "preponderance of evidence" is in their favor. This effectively means somebody who would never be convicted of drug-dealing in court could still have their car taken away because it was allegedly used for pushing narcotics.

1 Comments in Response to

Comment by Stupid Amerkin
Entered on:

What bullshit. Civil forfeiture is just a euphemism for out right theft and robbery under the color of law. WHO ARE THE REAL CRIMINALS IN THIS COUNTRY? They all dress in suits and ties, black robes and uniforms with a gun, badge, and 007 license disguised behind the illusion of respectability law and order.



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