Gem State Gendarmerie Obstructs “Forfeiture” Reform Proposals

by | Dec 7, 2016

 

Idaho state representatives Illana Rubel, a Democrat from Boise, and Steven Harris, a Republican from Meridian, have collaborated on legislation that would address abuses committed through the practice of asset forfeiture. This is the seizure of cash, cars, and other property that was supposedly the product of, or allegedly is connected in some way to, criminal activity.

By invoking a “nexus” to an offense — usually narcotics trafficking — police and prosecutors can seize the property, even if the owner is never charged with an offense. It is then “adopted” by a federal agency — again, the DEA is the most common accomplice — and a civil case is filed in rem (“against the thing”) to “forfeit” the cash or plundered goods. The legal standard for the state to prevail is “preponderance of evidence,” rather than “beyond a reasonable doubt” — and the burden of proof is placed on the owner, not the plaintiff. In most cases of this kind, the victim has neither the time nor the financial resources to contest the forfeiture action.

In one recent case, an Idaho resident prosecuted for operating a legal medical marijuana dispensary in Oregon was deprived of more than $50,000 through forfeiture — and the money was used to fund his criminal prosecution.

Rep. Rubel and Harris have proposed limiting the kinds of property that can be seized. They have also suggested the abolition of civil asset forfeiture – which can occur without criminal charges – by replacing it with criminal forfeiture, which can only happen if the owner is actually convicted of a crime. Not surprisingly, their proposals have collided with a barricade of obstruction thrown up by lobbyists representing the police plunderbund.

Idaho Sheriff’s Association Executive Director Vaughn Killeen insists that when property is confiscated by police without criminal charges, “often what law enforcement knows about individuals when they seize property is much more than a general citizen knows.” What a police officer supposedly “knows” is legally inconsequential: It is what a prosecutor can prove in court that matters. Killeen either ignores or doesn’t understand the constitutional principle that juries composed of “general citizens” must convict the accused of a criminal offense before punishment is imposed.

Killeen is among the Gem State’s most devoted defenders of state-licensed larceny. A few years ago, while lobbying the state legislature against a measure that would have forbidden Idaho peace officers to enforce any new federal anti-gun ownership measures, Killeen tremulously warned legislators that if the measure were enacted Washington might curtail its cooperation in the “equitable sharing” program, which allows local police to stash their stolen loot in federal custody so the victims won’t have access to it.

There was a certain cynical logic to that argument: If Idaho makes it more difficult for the Feds to confiscate firearms, the Feds will make it a little tougher for Idaho cops to confiscate money during pretext traffic stops. Since Idaho is an island of prohibitionist obscurantism surrounded by states with more rational marijuana laws, highway robbery through forfeiture is a very lucrative proposition.

About Will Grigg

Will Grigg (1963–2017), the former Managing Editor of The Libertarian Institute, was an independent, award-winning investigative journalist and author. He authored six books, most recently his posthumous work, No Quarter: The Ravings of William Norman Grigg.

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