Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Civil Forfeiture

I just came across this article about civil forfeiture. I had never heard of it before but apparently police officers can confiscate and keep money from someone suspected of obtaining or using the money in some illegal activity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-bullock/end-policing-for-profit_b_534553.html

2 comments:

Jackson said...

Oh yeah, totally. It's really weird! You can be suspected of doing something and they'll take everything you have and sell it, making money for their police station,etc. It's a pretty messed up system, and it's especially bad in California and with the "war on drugs."

Jahnavi said...

Check this out:
http://www.uchicago.edu/features/20091109_law.shtml

Some of UofC's law students (and Craig Futterman) have been working on briefs in a case in front of the Supreme Court on this very issue: police forfeiture laws in Illinois. I don't know whether the Supreme Court has decided this case yet or not -- has anyone heard about whether opinions have been released?