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Asset forfeiture is highly controversial because police departments get to keep a fraction of the proceeds of any property they seize.
The Supreme Court has generally upheld the principle of civil forfeiture. ing to the Justice Department, there are three main justifications for civil forfeitures: Punishment and deterrence. To punish and deter criminal activity by depriving criminals of property used or acquired through illegal activities.
Currently, four states have abolished the practice entirely: Maine, Nebraska, North Carolina and New Mexico. Many other states continue to allow it but place the burden of proof on the government instead of the property owner.
Forfeiture is broadly defined as the loss of property for failing to obey the law, and that property is generally lost to the state. A person may have a vested interest in property to be forfeit in two ways: In personum jurisdiction and in rem jurisdiction.
Remission, referring to the return of forfeited assets, and mitigation, referring to acceptance of a smaller financial penalty in lieu of forfeiture, are discretionary forms of relief granted by the agencies that are involved in seizing property or by the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice in Washington, ...
Civil forfeiture laws give the police the right to seize and sell the property of individuals accused of committing a crime. The laws in our state only allow law enforcement to take property associated with certain crimes, such as prostitution, money laundering, drug offenses, and gun crimes.
Although some civil forfeitures may be considered punitive for purposes of the Eighth Amendment's excessive fines clause, civil forfeitures do not implicate the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy clause unless they are so utterly punitive as to belie remedial classification.
While the government views civil forfeiture as a powerful tool against the drug trade, organized crime, and political corruption, it is often criticized as an unconstitutional exercise of government power, in violation of the Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments, and as against a fundamental element of due process.