Civil Forfeiture Laws: State Sanctioned Theft

I have written before about how dangerous and corrupting Civil Forfeiture Laws are. The Institute for Justice reports Judge Dan Pelligrini in Pennsylvania has gone so far as to call them State Sanctioned Theft (the IJ article has several good links within it, including their “Policing for Profit” report).

IJ attorney Larry Salzman states the dangers of these Forfeiture Laws:

Forfeiture becomes a means by which law enforcement agencies can pad their budgets, so they end up with a direct and perverse financial incentive to pursue forfeitures very aggressively…This case in Pennsylvania at least makes the government come into court with real evidence and hold a hearing. But it doesn’t change this perverse incentive and it doesn’t change the fact that someone could lose their property without being convicted of a crime.

The efforts of activists to reverse the Prohibition of Cannabis must not lose sight of surrounding dangers Prohibition creates.

Stay active and invested in the laws of your State.