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A comment on Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeiture Nationwide. Parent comment

Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by anonunivgrad on Friday December 18, 2020 @12:52PM (#25469809)
The government cannot keep civilly forfeited assets unless it wins a civil case in court, the same process by which anyone can sue and take everything to your name if they win. It also has a long pedigree, being in continuous use before, during, and after the founding era, making it unlikely that it would violate the 4th Amendment.
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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by gamblor956 on Friday December 18, 2020 @01:24PM (#25470175)
Civil asset forfeiture is a very specific legal process that can only be initiated by the government against assets seized in the alleged commission of (or derived from) criminal activity.

Private citizens cannot use civil forfeiture against other private citizens.

However, you are correct that the underlying legal theory has been around in some form for hundreds of years dating back to medieval England.

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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by anonunivgrad on Friday December 18, 2020 @03:19PM (#25471412)
That's not what I mean. I mean the burden of proof and due process is the same as if I sued you for, e.g., injuring or stealing from me.
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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by gamblor956 on Friday December 18, 2020 @08:10PM (#25474024)
No its not. The burden of proof is on the property to prove that it is not linked to the crime alleged.
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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by anonunivgrad on Saturday December 19, 2020 @04:36AM (#25476333)
That's not true. The government must prove, by a prepondernace of the evidence, that the property is linked to crime.
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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by gamblor956 on Monday December 21, 2020 @07:45PM (#25501607)
No, that's not true at the state level.

I've actually handled CAF cases before. Have you?

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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by 14 on Friday December 18, 2020 @01:06PM (#25469974)
That is such crap. Everyone knows a lot of the people they target can not afford a legal battle and will simply walk away and count their loses and the people doing the taking know this.
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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by jackfoxy on Friday December 18, 2020 @02:27PM (#25470883)
It's worse than that. The government has essentially unlimited (time and money) resources to throw into a civil case. Even the most wealthy individuals are at a severe disadvantage.

I'm not a legal scholar, but I find it bizarre the government can bring civil cases against individuals and corporations. They also do this to enforce environmental measures, a laudable goal. But as an ignorant layperson I prefer the government stick to defining and prosecuting what is illegal and stay our of civil law.

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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by anonunivgrad on Friday December 18, 2020 @03:21PM (#25471426)
Criminal prosecutions are for the condemnation of moral wrongdoing. Law serves many functions aside from that.
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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by ratsmack on Friday December 18, 2020 @02:47PM (#25471086)
This is why the level of "justice" you receive is directly proportional to your ability to pay a team of lawyers in many cases.
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Re:Justin Amash Introduces Bill to End Civil Asset Forfeitur... by AnimalMuppet on Friday December 18, 2020 @01:36PM (#25470308)
The bill of rights was precisely to prohibit some things that were going on before and during the founding era.
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