Arkansas Halts Civil Asset Forfeiture and Closes Federal Loophole - Steve Byas, The New American:
July 24, 2019 - "'There shall be no civil judgment under this subchapter and no property shall be forfeited unless the person from whom the property is seized is convicted of a felony offense that [is] related to the property being seized and that permits the forfeiture of the property,' said State Senator Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs), the sponsor of a bill that went into effect July 24 to abolish civil asset forfeiture in practically all cases in the state of Arkansas.
"The vote was unanimous in both houses of the Arkansas Legislature, and Governor Asa Hutchinson signed the bill into law back in March. According to the new law, the state is prohibited from taking a person’s property unless there is a criminal conviction first.
"Previously, the state had already taken action to withdraw from a federal program known as 'equitable sharing' [under which] state and local police, and prosecutors, were able to essentially ignore state restrictions on the practice known as civil asset forfeiture (CAF) by passing cases off to the federal government via what is known as adoption....
"CAF is a legal process by which law-enforcement agencies take assets from persons they suspect of having committed a crime, without necessarily even charging the owners of the property with any crime.... This is contrasted with criminal asset forfeiture, where the accused is afforded all of the constitutional and statutory procedural safeguards available under criminal law, and must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before any property is forfeited.
"Some states, recognizing the inherent injustice involved in civil forfeiture, have passed laws to rein in the practice.... Enter adoption forfeiture, or 'equitable sharing,' the practice by which local law enforcement can circumvent state laws against CAF by 'sharing' part of their seized cash or property with federal authorities.
"The Arkansas Legislature has moved to curtail this effort to circumvent state sovereignty. Under their law, ... No state or local law-enforcement agency may transfer any property seized by the state or a local agency to any federal entity for forfeiture unless the circuit court having jurisdiction ... enters an order, upon petition by the prosecuting attorney, authorizing the transfer.... [T]he transfer shall not be approved unless it reasonably appears that the activity is giving rise to the investigation or the seizure involves more than one state, or if the nature of the investigation or seizure would be better pursued under federal law.
"Unfortunately, a compliant judge could still circumvent state law by, as the Tenth Amendment Center warns, simply becoming a 'rubber stamp' to the requests of law enforcement. The Tenth Amendment Center suggests that Arkansas needs to tighten up this loophole by withdrawing from the federal equitable sharing program completely."
Read more: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/32950-arkansas-halts-civil-asset-forfeiture-and-closes-federal-loophole
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July 24, 2019 - "'There shall be no civil judgment under this subchapter and no property shall be forfeited unless the person from whom the property is seized is convicted of a felony offense that [is] related to the property being seized and that permits the forfeiture of the property,' said State Senator Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs), the sponsor of a bill that went into effect July 24 to abolish civil asset forfeiture in practically all cases in the state of Arkansas.
"The vote was unanimous in both houses of the Arkansas Legislature, and Governor Asa Hutchinson signed the bill into law back in March. According to the new law, the state is prohibited from taking a person’s property unless there is a criminal conviction first.
"Previously, the state had already taken action to withdraw from a federal program known as 'equitable sharing' [under which] state and local police, and prosecutors, were able to essentially ignore state restrictions on the practice known as civil asset forfeiture (CAF) by passing cases off to the federal government via what is known as adoption....
"CAF is a legal process by which law-enforcement agencies take assets from persons they suspect of having committed a crime, without necessarily even charging the owners of the property with any crime.... This is contrasted with criminal asset forfeiture, where the accused is afforded all of the constitutional and statutory procedural safeguards available under criminal law, and must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before any property is forfeited.
"Some states, recognizing the inherent injustice involved in civil forfeiture, have passed laws to rein in the practice.... Enter adoption forfeiture, or 'equitable sharing,' the practice by which local law enforcement can circumvent state laws against CAF by 'sharing' part of their seized cash or property with federal authorities.
"The Arkansas Legislature has moved to curtail this effort to circumvent state sovereignty. Under their law, ... No state or local law-enforcement agency may transfer any property seized by the state or a local agency to any federal entity for forfeiture unless the circuit court having jurisdiction ... enters an order, upon petition by the prosecuting attorney, authorizing the transfer.... [T]he transfer shall not be approved unless it reasonably appears that the activity is giving rise to the investigation or the seizure involves more than one state, or if the nature of the investigation or seizure would be better pursued under federal law.
"Unfortunately, a compliant judge could still circumvent state law by, as the Tenth Amendment Center warns, simply becoming a 'rubber stamp' to the requests of law enforcement. The Tenth Amendment Center suggests that Arkansas needs to tighten up this loophole by withdrawing from the federal equitable sharing program completely."
Read more: https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/32950-arkansas-halts-civil-asset-forfeiture-and-closes-federal-loophole
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