One of the most egregious violations of our rights is the concept of 'civil asset forfeiture.' Without evidence of a real crime, law enforcement can seize the cash or property of a person pretty much any reason, and then it's on the victim to prove that cash/property wasn't crime adjacent -- an arduous process that's often the punishment and leads to agencies padding their budgets with the ill-gotten gains.
It should be prohibited under the Fifth Amendment.
But it's not, and this story demonstrates how it inspires bad actors for profit:
An airline employee was giving the DEA names of passengers who bought a last minute ticket.
— Dan King (@Kinger_DC) November 22, 2024
DEA would then try to intimidate them into consenting to searches. If civil forfeiture occurred, the employee would get a cut of the $.@IJ helped expose this.https://t.co/g9KR56vwCo
The Justice Department has ordered the Drug Enforcement Administration to suspend its longstanding practice of searching passengers at airports — and seizing their cash — after the department’s internal watchdog raised concerns that it was fueling widespread civil rights violations and potential racial profiling.
In a management directive issued on Thursday, the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General said it had been hearing complaints about the searches for years — and had recently learned new information that suggested there were significant problems with them, including potential constitutional violations.
The IG found that the program 'creates substantial risks that DEA Special Agents and Task Force Officers will conduct these activities improperly; impose unwarranted burdens on, and violate the legal rights of, innocent travelers.' It also found that the searches 'waste law enforcement resources on ineffective interdiction actions.'
There is legislation to stop this:
This abuse has led the DOJ to halt the DEA's unconstitutional airport interdictions.
— Dan King (@Kinger_DC) November 22, 2024
But it's still vital that lawmakers work to end, or at the very least, make serious reforms to civil forfeiture.
A good place to start would be passing the #FAIRActhttps://t.co/hghxFSw3Ua
The FAIR Act would 'remove the profit incentive that drives so many federal forfeitures, end the federal 'equitable sharing' program that is used to circumvent state law protections for property rights, and eliminate the unfair administrative forfeiture process' and was reintroduced in March 2023.
The federal government was committing armed robbery
— Albert paxton (@Albertpaxton5) November 22, 2024
Basically.
The DEA says it will stop the practice not because it violates the Constitution, but because it’s concerned with being accused of racial profiling. 🤡
— Old Celtic Harp (@Old_Celtic_Harp) November 22, 2024
Which is maddening.
"The arrangement is problematic, investigators concluded."
— Terry Miller (@mrmiller1972) November 22, 2024
YOU THINK!??!! pic.twitter.com/5Mh3GKoiGm
Yeah, 'problematic' is a gross understatement.
Add the DEA to the list of 3-letters to be dismantled.
— HereWeGoAgain (@T1redOfThisAll) November 22, 2024
YUP. Another job for DOGE.
Some employees were making more as DEA stool pigeons than from their actual airline jobs.
— Robert Frommer (@Robert_Frommer) November 22, 2024
And law enforcement are padding budgets with civil asset forfeiture. It needs to stop.
https://t.co/k6AKmXMvCD pic.twitter.com/KvGBXOiPW8
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) November 22, 2024
Our sentiments exactly.
This is insane. I hope there's political will to deal with civil asset forfeiture. https://t.co/sUwgVuQy5i
— Meredith Dake-O'Connor (@meredithdake) November 24, 2024
We hope so, too.
Civil forfeiture should never be allowed except after an actual conviction. https://t.co/vTn31sA0Cz
— Cardinal Black Flag (@Gimblin) November 22, 2024
And even then, depending on the circumstances.
I cannot state enough that people need to familiarize themselves with what their rights are here.
— Rufus T Firefly (sworn enemy of Rakell) (@hoggomcswineass) November 22, 2024
1) tell them to get a warrant
2) shut the f**k up
3) lawyer up
F**k these scumbags https://t.co/xRlPPmUurw
THIS.
The founding fathers would have listed this grievance in the Declaration of Independence https://t.co/WI9pclQVS6
— Arthur Boreman (yes, that Arthur Boreman) (@ArthurBoreman) November 22, 2024
Because it is.
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