Pubdate: Tue, 27 Dec 2016 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Copyright: 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 JEFF SESSIONS AND CIVIL FORFEITURE The AG nominee should be asked about an abusive practice. Democrats are wrong in most of their criticism of Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General. But if they or fellow Republicans are looking for a legitimate area to probe, they should explore his views on governmenta€™s use of civil forfeiture. The all-too-common practice allows law enforcement to take private property without due process and has become a cash cow for state and local police and prosecutors. Under a federal program called a€śequitable sharing,a€ť local law enforcement can team up with federal authorities to seize property in exchange for 80% of the proceeds. Assets are often seizeda€"and never returneda€"without any judicial process or court supervision. Unlike criminal forfeiture, civil forfeiture doesna€™t require a criminal conviction or even charges. According to the Virginia-based Institute for Justice, which tracks forfeitures, 13% of all forfeitures done by the Justice Department between 1997 and 2013 were in criminal cases while 87% were civil forfeitures. And 88% of those forfeitures were done by an administrative agency, not a court. Civil-rights activists have campaigned for years to end forfeiture abuses. But in a 2015 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Sessions defended the practice. He said he doesna€™t a€śthink ita€™s wrong toa€"for federal government to adopt state casesa€ť and added that a€śtaking and seizing and forfeiting, through a government judicial process, illegal gains from criminal enterprises is not wrong.a€ť Mr. Sessions said he was a€śvery unhappya€ť with criticism of a program that mostly took money from people who have a€śdone nothing in their lives but sell dope.a€ť But his focus on the utility of criminal forfeitures overlooks the serious need for reform to end due-process abuse in civil forfeitures. The AG nominee was once a prosecutor in Alabama, and that state is among the big offenders. According to a report by the Institute for Justice, between 2000 and 2013 Alabama took in more than $75 million in revenue through the equitable-sharing program. IJ ranks Alabama 31st in the nation for the amount of money it received in equitable-sharing payments from the Justice Department from 2011 to 2013. The top three, which take the least amount of money in equitable sharing, are South Dakota, North Dakota and Wyoming. Worst are Rhode Island, California and New York. In 2015 then-Attorney General Eric Holder rolled back part of the equitable-sharing program known as a€śadoptiona€ť which allows state governments to get a piece of the federal forfeiture pie. But this was only a suspension, and the former status quo can be reinstated by another Attorney General. The lack of procedural protection coupled with financial incentives has turned policing for profit into a slush fund for governments hungry for cash, and the payouts too often come at the expense of civil liberties. Wea€™d like to hear what Mr. Sessions thinks of the practice today. - --- MAP posted-by: