Easy Money: Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse by PoliceOn November 18, 2009, Shukree Simmons, who is African-American, was driving with his business partner on the highway from Macon, Georgia, back to Atlanta after selling his cherished Chevy Silverado truck to a restaurant owner in Macon for $3,700 of sorely needed funds. As Mr. Simmons passed through Lamar County, he was pulled over by two patrol officers who stated no reason for the stop, but instead asked Mr. Simmons numerous questions about where he was going and where he had been, and even separated him from his business partner for extended questioning. The officers searched both people and the car, finding no evidence of any illegal activity. A drug dog sniffed the car and did not indicate the presence of any trace of drugs. Notwithstanding the total lack of evidence of criminal activity and Mr. Simmons’s explanation that he was carrying money from selling his truck, the officers confiscated the $3,700 on the suspicion that the funds were derived from illegal activity, pursuant to their authority under Georgia’s civil asset forfeiture law. Despite the fact that Mr. Simmons mailed his bill of sale and title for the truck to the officer, he was told over the phone that he would need to file a legal claim to get his money back. For most people in Mr. Simmons’s position, the story would end there. To challenge this activity and get their money back, victims of seizures bear the burden of initiating a claim for the money. If no claim is filed, the police can keep the money. It is unlikely that regular folks whose money is taken will be equipped to seek out the appropriate statute and comply with the requirements for making a claim. While lawyers are available to do this work, the price is high — in Georgia, a standard retainer fee is $5,000. Many people lack the resources to pay that price, and even if they had them, it would not make sense to pay more than the value of the seized funds. Asset forfeiture laws create huge incentives for law enforcement officers to police for profit. In 2003, the total amount forfeited to Georgia law enforcement was $38,330,861. Georgia’s law permits one-third of seizure proceeds to return to local law enforcement, which can be used for any law enforcement purpose except for the payment of salaries or rewards. The rest of the money goes into the local general fund, and must be used for programs such as drug treatment and witness protection. However, in Georgia and most other states, if police want access to more of the money for their budgets, they may turn over a drug-related seizure to the D.E.A., thereby federalizing the seizure. The DEA “does the paperwork”, handles any claims to the money by individuals (who must sue in federal court), and returns 80 percent of the money to the police, with no state law strings attached. Police may then use the funds for any law enforcement purpose, including payment of salaries. This process, known as equitable sharing, permits local law enforcement to do an end run around state civil asset forfeiture laws. Reports from other asset forfeiture cases in the media and in lawsuits indicate that police do not seize assets from all equally. Instead, they target those persons they associate with criminal behavior and drug trafficking. The result is a regime of racial profiling of black and Latino drivers on the highways, who are stopped and stripped of their money based on minimal or non-existent evidence. Mr. Simmons' case demonstrates the extent to which civil asset forfeiture laws, formed to assist officers in fighting drug crimes, are misused against people of color in cases in which there is no evidence of criminal activity. Mr. Simmons was never arrested and never charged. Instead, the Sheriff's department took his money, admitted that it has no right to keep the money, and told Mr. Simmons that he must make a legal claim to get it back. The ACLU seeks to challenge this and other civil asset forfeiture law abuses. The era of easy money for police departments by wrongfully taking cash from vulnerable drivers must end.
We intend the comments portion of this blog to be a forum where you can freely express your views on blog postings and on comments made by other people. Given that, please understand that you are responsible for the material you post on the comments portion of this blog. The only postings that we ask that you refrain from posting and that we cannot permit on our website are requests for legal assistance and postings that could cause ACLU to incur legal liability.
One important law in that regard is the prohibition on politically partisan activity. Given our nonprofit status, we may not endorse or oppose candidates for elective office. That means we cannot host comments on our site that show a preference for one candidate or party. Although we in no way wish to discourage you from that activity elsewhere, we ask that you not engage in that activity on our website (or include links to other websites that do so). Additionally, given that we are subject to very specific rules concerning the collection of personally identifying information through our website (names, email addresses, home address, financial information, etc.), we ask that you not use the comments portion of this blog to solicit this information from users of our website. We also ask that you not use the comments portion for advertising or requests for legal assistance, and do not add to your comment links to other websites, as we cannot be responsible for the content on other websites. We are not able to respond to unsolicited inquiries, complaints or requests for assistance sent to this blog. Please direct your complaint or request for assistance to the ACLU affiliate in your state. Requests for legal assistance left in the blog comments will not receive a response or be published. Finally, the ACLU cannot guarantee the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information in the comment section and expressly disclaims any liability for any information in this section. 7 Responses to "Easy Money: Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse by Police" |
© ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 |
Feb 9th, 2010 at 4:35pm
Aren't the cops supposed to stop people from stealing?
Feb 12th, 2010 at 10:37am
As a native american I am embarrassed beyond all human decency to the transformations of what was my country.
I am 63 and all I think about is leaving it.
It is a sick place to live.
Feb 15th, 2010 at 5:36pm
He is a fucking con artist...they should have stop him...........
Feb 15th, 2010 at 5:44pm
He is a profession con artist............look at his record in all the counties
Feb 15th, 2010 at 5:45pm
He has been to jail for all type of false information and fraud so before you help a person look at his record
Mar 6th, 2010 at 11:38am
he is an awesome artist
Mar 8th, 2010 at 11:26am
well, actually he desreves that
http://www.canadabusinessplans.org