Thursday, February 14, 2019

71 SC legislators sponsor civil forfeiture reform

SC legislators announce significant civil forfeiture reform efforts - Nathaniel Cary, Greenville News:

February 13, 2019 - "As a morning Statehouse crowd milled about, ... Rep. Alan Clemmons stepped to a podium ... to announce a bill to reform civil asset forfeiture in South Carolina — a practice which allows law enforcement to seize property from residents, sometimes without charging or convicting them of a crime, and then profit from the proceeds....

"[H]e said the group stands with law enforcement, crime shouldn’t pay, and law enforcement should have the ability to seize property they believe to be illegally obtained. 'We, however, also stand with the presumption of innocent until proven guilty,' said Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach. 'We also stand for the presumption of the sanctity of property rights.'

"He announced a bill, backed by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council that Clemmons has previously chaired, to fundamentally change the way civil forfeiture cases are handled in the state. At its heart, he said, the bill would enable a person to not lose their property to police unless they were convicted of a crime.

"Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, ... D-Orangeburg, who is president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, ... called it fundamentally an issue of fairness, saying someone who has not been convicted of a crime should not lose their property. She said she knows some small towns count on revenue from forfeiture to furnish police units....

“'I am pleased to stand with this bipartisan group, Democrats as well as Republicans, African-Americans as well as whites, to say we have come together on this issue to say enough is enough in South Carolina. We are going to stand for the citizens of this state.'

"The bill, introduced to the House on Wednesday, will be assigned to the House Judiciary Committee....  71 House members have signed on as co-sponsors. That’s enough votes to pass the bill out of the House....

“'It’s about time,' said Rep. Gary Clary, R-Pickens, a retired judge with 45 years legal experience who has presided over forfeiture cases.... 'I believe in individual rights and individual liberties, and this is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we are going to consider in this session.'

"Clary and others credited The Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail's TAKEN investigation with creating a climate to address the unfairness civil forfeiture presents to citizens."

'via Blog this'

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