Justice Department Plans to Reinstate Asset Forfeiture

Justice Department Plans to Reinstate Asset Forfeiture

One problem with abandoning conservative principles and allowing statists to dominate the Republican Party is that now we have a choice between socialism and tyranny like this:

The Justice Department announced their plans to reinstate the use of asset forfeiture, especially for drug suspects — making it easier for local law enforcement to seize cash and property from crime suspects and reap the proceeds.

The practice has been criticized because it allows law enforcement to take possessions — such as cars and money — without indictments or evidence a crime has been committed.

Thankfully the Founders devised a federal system so that the individual states can protect us from centralized tyranny. Except…

CBS News’ Paula Reid reports that 24 states have passed laws limiting the practice, but local law enforcement can get around those restrictions by giving seized assets to the federal government instead of returning them to their owners. This practice is called “adoption” and it’s been used to seize almost $1 billion in assets over the last decade.

That leaves us with the Fifth Amendment as a defense from being looted by the police. “No person shall be … deprived of … property, without due process of law.” But the Constitution is only a scrap of paper if we don’t have the character to insist that it be honored.

asset forfeiture
When government stops being limited, police stop being the good guys.

On a tip from Torcer. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.

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