The practice is plainly unconstitutional.
by Billy Binion
Reason.com
Rep. Justin Amash (L–Mich.) on Thursday introduced a bill to end civil asset forfeiture, which allows the government to take property from someone without ever charging them with a crime.
Law enforcement on the local, state, and federal levels can seize assets if they were thought to be used in connection with illegal activity. That’s often based solely on suspicion, though. Many people never receive their items back, even if they were acquitted or never charged in the first place. Since 2000, state and local governments have robbed people of more than $68 billion.
Police often deposit those sums into slush funds for their departments.