Pubdate: Mon, 22 Dec 2014
Source: Rome News-Tribune (GA)
Copyright: 2014 Rome News-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.romenews-tribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1716
Author: Kenneth Fuller
Note: Kenneth Fuller, a retired Rome attorney and former state 
senator, writes a regular column for the Rome News- Tribune.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

RESTORE OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: ABOLISH CIVIL FORFEITURE

Starting about 1988, we, the God-fearing, law and order, peace-loving 
people of Georgia willingly allowed our state and federal governments 
to take from us our most closely guarded constitutional right not to 
be subjected to seizure of our assets without due process of law. It 
happened without so much as a whimper from any of us.

During this period, the legislature gave the police the right to 
seize and keep your property over the fear of drugs. The War on Drugs 
started then, and we have since wasted billions of dollars on this 
lost effort. We lost the war. This money could have been used to 
replace every bridge in our state in need of repair or replacement, 
to build new schools, and to hire and pay teachers rather than 
furloughing them.

The legislature's adoption of the civil seizure and forfeiture law 
was wrong-headed then and SHOULD BE ABOLISHED NOW. Under this law, 
any citizen can have his or her assets seized without even a 
suspicion they have broken any law.

How is this, you say? Take the case of the Cobb County grandmother 
who, last year, allowed her much-loved, college student, live-in 
grandson to use her car to take his girlfriend out. Cobb police 
stopped him for a tail light violation and found that he had $650 
cash in his possession, along with a very small amount of marijuana. 
He was charged, his money was seized, as was his innocent grandmother's car.

The grandmother had no knowledge her sweet grandson even knew what 
marijuana was and certainly no reason to believe he would ever do 
anything illegal. That did not matter to the police. The law makes no 
provision for the innocent owner, whether or not she is a 
silver-haired saint of God. In fact, the owner has no right to be 
notified of the seizure unless the asset is worth at least $25,000.

In the case at hand, Grandma's car was the only one she had, and her 
only means of transportation to and from her dialysis treatments - 
but it was old and worth less than $25,000, far less in fact. The 
police kept her car, selling it at auction, and used the money to 
improve the police pension fund or some other thing they felt worthwhile.

Surely this can only happen in a country headed by Vladimir Putin, 
Kim Jong Un, or some other despot. Is it possible we will allow this 
violation of our basic rights to continue? Let me hasten to say that 
the example of the Cobb grandma is not the exception, but is in fact The Rule.

Injustices like this are common and they occur daily.

In our state alone, our police agencies have used the civil 
forfeiture law to seize hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, 
and in more the 80 percent of the cases, the owner has never been 
charged with any crime. Let's say it again, and concentrate on the 
preposterous fact that only in 19 of every 100 seizures of someone's 
money, car, or other asset, do the police ever make a charge against 
the owner! In the 81 other cases, they just keep it without as much 
as an explanation, excuse, or apology, or a kiss on the cheek.

It is sad, preposterous, that this conduct is even possible in the 
land of the free. Believe it. It is perfectly legal and is used 
almost everyday.

Another example of the abuse this law allows is that of the Chinese- 
American Georgia resident who was recently stopped on I-10 in 
Alabama. He was returning home from a meeting with his family where 
he had secured a loan from them to assist him to open a restaurant in 
his hometown.

It is of no significance that Asian families often help each other in 
raising cash in order to start a business. The fact is, he had with 
him $75,000 given to him by his family. This is not illegal in any 
way. He was stopped for a minor traffic violation. What other country 
in the world would allow its police to seize your property without so 
much as a reason to do so?

The money was seized by the police. There was no evidence nor 
anything else which might cast suspicion on the man's explanation for 
having the large amount of cash. It did not matter. The law allowed 
the police to take it. They needed no proof the money was ill-gotten. 
Frankly they did not even need a suspicion.

The good news is he hired a lawyer and sued for the return of his 
cash. Ten months later he received the return of his money. The sad 
news is that it took 10 months and he had to spend tens of thousands 
of dollars in order to win back what was rightfully his. Was he 
reimbursed his attorney fees and expenses you ask? Absolutely not. 
The law does not provide for any reimbursement for an innocent 
owner's expenses in obtaining the return of his property.

Is this in any way fair? If you believe this is an unbelievable 
allegation, then you may be naive or simply comfortable in your 
belief it could not happen to you or anyone you love. The fact is 
that these assets do not normally come from drug dealers who are 
caught with large sums of money but from common people like you and 
me. The median amount of money seized is not the sums like the 
Chinese merchant had but actually amounts only to just over $600.

There was an attempt to amend the law last session of the General 
Assembly in a way to give the owner a right to a court hearing if the 
property seized had a value of $5,000 or more. That proposal would 
have offered some rights to innocent property owners, though they 
would have been far short of ideal.

The bill failed due to the strong opposition of the Georgia Sheriffs 
Association. The organization argued that it would harm morale among 
the police officers of the state if the proceeds of forfeiture was 
lost to law enforcement. It's a sad day when an arm of law 
enforcement says "we will not be eager to enforce the law unless we 
profit from it."

Speak to your legislator before the session starts. Urge them to 
abolish this heinous law and return our right to be secure in our 
property from wrongful seizure by the state.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom