Apr 6, 2021
Picture this: You’re driving home from the casino and you've
absolutely cleaned up – to the tune of $50,000. You see a
police car pull up behind you, but you can’t figure out why. Not
only have you not broken any laws, you’re not even speeding. But
the police officer doesn’t appear to be interested in charging you
with a crime. Instead, he takes your gambling winnings, warns you
not to say anything to anyone unless you want to be charged as a
drug kingpin, then drives off into the sunset.
This actually happened to Tan Nguyen, and his story is far from
unique. On this episode on the Resistance Library Podcast Dave and
Sam discuss the topic of civil asset forfeiture, a multi-billion
dollar piggybank for state, local and federal police departments to
fund all sorts of pet projects.
With its origins in the British fight against piracy on the open
seas, civil asset forfeiture is nothing new. During Prohibition,
police officers often seized goods, cash and equipment from
bootleggers in a similar manner to today. However, contemporary
civil asset forfeiture begins right where you’d think that it
would: The War on Drugs.
In 1986, as First Lady Nancy Reagan encouraged America’s youth
to
“Just
Say No,” the Justice Department started the Asset Forfeiture Fund.
This sparked a boom in civil asset forfeiture that’s now become
self-reinforcing, as the criminalization of American life and asset
forfeiture have continued to feed each other.
In sum, asset forfeiture creates a motivation to draft more laws by
the legislature, while more laws create greater opportunities for
seizure by law enforcement. This perverse incentive structure is
having devastating consequences: In 2014 alone, law enforcement
took more stuff from American citizens than burglars
did.
The current state of civil asset forfeiture in the United States is
one of almost naked tyranny. Don’t believe us? Have a
listen.
You can read the full article “Policing
For Profit: How Civil Asset Forfeiture Has Perverted American Law
Enforcement” at Ammo.com.
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