Civil forfeiture laws allow the government to take cash, cars, homes and other property suspected of being involved in criminal activity. Unlike criminal forfeiture, with civil forfeiture, the property owner doesn’t have to be charged with, let alone convicted of, a crime to permanently lose his property.
STATES ALLOW LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO KEEP PART OR ALL OF THE CIVIL FORFEITURE PROCEEDS
UP TO 80% OF VICTIMS AREN’T CHARGED WITH A CRIME
FORFEITURES ARE
UNCONTESTED
Once your property has been seized by the government there is a byzantine process to get it back. See the steps and pitfalls for navigating a federal forfeiture case in this comprehensive overview.
Civil forfeiture laws allow the government to take cash, cars, homes and other property suspected of being involved in criminal activity.
UPDATES
On Tuesday, Ameal Woods and Jordan Davis—a Mississippi couple that lost their life savings on the side of I-10 after Harris County officers seized their […]
On Tuesday morning, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled unanimously that civil-forfeiture defendants in the Hoosier State have the right to a trial by jury. In […]
ARLINGTON, Va.—This morning the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Culley v. Marshall, a case challenging the constitutionality of Alabama’s civil forfeiture laws on […]
ARLINGTON, Va.—Stephanie Wilson had her car seized by sheriff’s deputies in Wayne County, Michigan. She was not arrested, accused of wrongdoing, or issued a citation. […]
LOS ANGELES—Don Mellein was never accused of a crime, but his security deposit box was seized in an FBI raid. After the government gave up […]
NEW YORK—Today, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Rochester woman is entitled to make her case in front of a judge […]