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Fate of Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform to be Decided in Senate Judiciary Committee Contact your Senator!

Last June APC supported the efforts of Rep. Henry Hyde to reform civil asset forfeiture laws that empower the government to seize your property if it is suspected that it was involved in a crime. As it is applied today, these laws are giving the police power to infringe upon your 4th Amendment constitutional right and your property-even if you are innocent.

     Law enforcement is depriving innocent citizens of their property without basic due process. And contrary to the basic presumption in American law, under current civil asset forfeiture laws you are guilty until proven innocent!

The problem is getting worse as police departments have learned to use the forfeiture act to build their own financial wealth-by taking it away from YOU.

Indeed, an astounding 85% of the people who have their property seized are never even charged with a crime.

Rep. Hyde's bill (H.R. 1658) overwhelmingly passed on the floor of the House, 377 to 48. In the Senate, Senators Hatch (UT) and Leahy (VT), the Judiciary Committee Chairman and Minority Leader, introduced S. 1931. Although not as strong as H.R. 1658, it is definitely a bill that addresses serious concerns about asset forfeiture reform. This is a good bill with which we can work with.

     This bill must not be confused with S. 1701, a rival "civil asset forfeiture reform" bill introduced by Sen. Jeff Sessions (AL). In a rush to ingratiate themselves with the Justice Department and police associations (read: those very entities that trample our 4th Amendment rights and are financial benefactors of the property/goods seized) Senator Sessions and a few other Judiciary Committee members introduced S. 1701, a forfeiture bill that only poses as a reform bill, but in reality expands the police's power and therefore abuses, doing much more harm than good.

When you call your Senator, make sure to specify that you want them to cosponsor and support S. 1931 and not S. 1701. The more Senators that appear as cosponsors of S. 1931, the better chance it has of passing in committee.

If your Senator is on the Judiciary Committee, it is vital for you to contact them. Their vote is a deciding vote.

Judiciary Committee Members: Thurmond (SC), Grassley (IA), Specter (PA), Kyl (AZ), DeWine (OH), Ashcroft (MO), Abraham (MI), Sessions (AL), Smith (NH), Kennedy (MA), Biden (DE), Kohl (WI), Feinstein (CA), Feingold (WI), Torricelli (NJ) and Schumer, (NY).

For the text and status of this legislation and for more detailed information visit www.forfeiture.org, a web site constructed in support of a nationwide coalition formed to assist forfeiture reform legislation in Congress. You may also email your Senator directly from this site!

1. Call your Senator (Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121) and urge him/her to cosponsor S. 1931. Email them through the web site www.forfeiture.org.

2. If your Senator sits on the Judiciary Committee (see list above) contact them and encourage them to vote "yes" on S. 1931, the Hatch/Leahy forfeiture reform bill and any amendments that would bring the bill more closely in line with H.R. 1658. Also, urge them to vote "no" on S. 1701, the bad forfeiture bill, as well as any amendments that are intended to dilute the impact of S. 1931.

If the bill does not receive a majority vote in committee -- it needs 10 out of 18 votes -- then the crusade to stop the police property grab will come to a screeching halt.