########################################################################## THE LOOTING OF AMERICA -- CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE by Jarret Wollstein ########################################################################## `A police dog scratched at your luggage, so we're confiscating your life savings and you'll never get it back.' In 1989, police stopped 49-year-old Ethel Hylton at Houston's Hobby Airport and told her she was under arrest because a drug dog had scratched at her luggage. Agents searched her bags and strip-searched her, but they found no drugs. They did find $39,110 in cash, money she had received from an insurance settlement and her life savings; accumulated through over 20 years of work as a hotel housekeeper and hospital janitor. Ethel Hylton completely documented where she got the money and was never charged with a crime. But the police kept her money anyway. Nearly four years later, she is still trying to get her money back. Ethel Hylton is just one of a large and growing list of Americans -- now numbering in the hundreds of thousands -- who have been victimized by civil asset forfeiture. Under civil asset forfeiture, everything you own can be legally taken away even if you are never indicted, tried or convicted of a crime. Suspicion of offenses which, if proven in court, might result in a $200 fine or probation, are being used to justify seizure of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property. Totally innocent Americans are losing their cars, homes and businesses, based on the claims of anonymous informants that illegal transactions took place on their property. Once property is seized, it is virtually impossible to get it back. Property is now being seized in every state and from every class of Americans. Seizures include pocket money confiscated from public housing residents in Florida; cars taken away from men suspected of soliciting prostitutes in Oregon; and homes taken away from ordinary, middle class Americans whose teenage children are accused of selling a few joints of marijuana. No person and no property is immune from seizure. You could be the next victim. Here are some examples: In Washington, D.C. police stop black men on the streets in poor areas of the city, and ``routinely confiscate small amounts of cash and jewelry''. Most confiscated property is not even recorded by police departments. ``Resident Ben Davis calls it `robbery with a badge'.'' [USA Today, 5/18/92] In Iowa, ``a woman accused of shoplifting a $25 sweater had her $18,000 car -- specially equipped for her handicapped daughter -- seized as the `getaway vehicle'.'' [USA Today, 5/18/92] In December 1988, Detroit drug police raided a grocery store, but failed to find any drugs. After drug dogs reacted to three $1.00 bills in the cash register, the police seized $4,384 from cash registers and the store safe. According to the Pittsburgh Press, over 92% of all cash in circulation in the U.S. now shows some drug residue. In April 1992, Dr. Joseph Disbrow was accused of practicing psychiatry without a license. His crime was providing counselling services from a spare bedroom in his mother's house in Monmouth, New Jersey. Counselling does not require a license in New Jersey. That didn't stop police from seizing virtually everything of value from his mother's home, totalling over $60,000. The forfeiture squad confiscated furniture, carpets, paintings, and even personal photographs. Kathy and Mark Schrama were arrested just before Christmas 1990 at their home in New Jersey. Kathy was charged with taking $500 worth of UPS packages from neighbors' porches. Mark was charged with receiving stolen goods. If found guilty, they might have paid a small fine and received probation. The day after their arrest, their house, cars and furniture were seized. Based upon mere accusation, $150,000 in property was confiscated, without trial or indictment. Police even took their clothing, eyeglasses, and Christmas presents for their 10-year-old son. The incentive for government agencies to expand forfeiture is enormous. Agencies can easily seize property and they usually keep what they take. According to the Pittsburgh Press, 80% of seizure victims are never even charged with a crime. Law enforcement agencies often keep the best seized cars, watches and TVs for their ``departments'', and sell the rest. How extensive are seizures in America today? In April 1990, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Marshals Service alone had an inventory of over $1.4 billion in seized assets, including over 30,000 cars, boats, homes and businesses. Federal and state agencies seizing property now include the FBI, the DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Coast Guard, the IRS, local police, highway patrol, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, FDA, and the Bureau of Land Management. Asset forfeiture is th industry. Seizures have increased from $27 million in 1986, to over $644 million in 1991. In 1992, seizures may exceed $1 billion. Civil asset forfeiture defines a new standard of justice in America; or more precisely, a new standard of injustice. Under civil seizure, property, not an individual is charged with an offense. Even if you are a totally innocent owner, the government can still confiscate your ``guilty'' property. If government agents seize your property under civil asset forfeiture, you can forget about being innocent until proven guilty, due process of law, the right to an attorney, or even the right to trial. All of those rights only exist if you are charged with a criminal offense; that is, with an offense which could result in your imprisonment. If you (or your property) are accused of a civil offense (offenses which could not result in your imprisonment), the Supreme Count has ruled that you have no pre n of innocence, no right to an attorney, and no protection from double jeopardy. Seizure occurs when government takes away your property. Forfeiture is when legal title is permanently transferred to the state. To get seized property returned, you have to fight the full resources of your state or the federal government; sometimes both! You have to prove your property's ``innocence'' by documenting how you earned every cent used to pay for it. You have to prove that neither you nor any of your family members ever committed an illegal act involving the property. To get a trial, you have to post a non-refundable ``bond'' of 10% of the value of your property. You have to pay attorney fees -- ranging from $5,000 to over $100,000 -- out of your own pocket. Money you pay your attorney is also subject to seizure (either before or after the trial) if the government alleges that those funds were ``tainted''. And you may be forced to go through trial after trial, because under civil seizure the Constitutional protection against ``double jeopardy'' doesn't apply. Onc property is seized, expect to spend years fighting government agencies and expect to be impoverished by legal fees -- with no guarantee of winning Å while the government keeps your car, home and bank account. As bad as current asset forfeiture laws are, far worse is just ahead. Hundreds of expanded asset forfeiture bills are pending before Congress and state legislatures. The 1991 Omnibus Crime Bill (passed by Congress, but vetoed by President Bush for being ``too soft'' on crime), increases from six months to six-and-one-half years the time officials have to return ``improperly seized'' property to its rightful owners. The 1992 Omnibus Crime Bill extends civil asset forfeiture to political dissent. Under this Bill, if ``violence'' occurs during a political activity, the assets of the sponsoring organization are subject to forfeiture. If a fist fight broke out during a union picket, all of the union's assets could be seized. Even before this Bill has passed, cars belonging to Operation Rescue demonstrators are being confiscated. Civil asset forfeiture is the beginning of the end of justice in America. Current and pending laws give government agencies the legal right to loot at will. The threat of asset forfeiture can be used to intimidate businesses, silence dissent, and destroy families. Some people are fighting back. A New Jersey-based group, Forfeiture Endangers American Rights (FEAR), is lobbying Congress and creating a national network of forfeiture defense attorneys. The Drug Policy Foundation and the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation (both based in Washington, D.C.) are fighting existing and proposed asset forfeiture laws. And the Citizens for the Bill of Rights is engaging in grass roots education and organizing opposition on a state level. These groups need your help to suc The fight against civil asset forfeiture is a battle against tyranny in America. If forfeiture squads continue to expand, liberty and justice in America will become a fading memory. We must stop government looters and restore the rule of law now. Tomorrow will be too late. JARRET B. WOLLSTEIN is a director of ISIL and the author of 300 published articles. GROUPS FIGHTING ASSET FORFEITURE Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, 2000 L Street, NW, Suite 702, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 835-9075. $90 per year. Drug Policy Foundation, 4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20016 (202)895-1634. $35 per year. Families Against Mandatory Minimums, 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 200 South, Washington, DC 20004. (202) 457-5790. $35 per year. FEAR (Forfeiture Endangers American Rights), P.O. Box 5424, Somerset, NJ 08875 Tel: (908) 873-1251. $55 per year. NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), 1636-R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 (202) 483-5500. Dues $25 per year. RECOMMENDED READING The Closing Door by Dan Rosenthal ........................... $30.00 Presumed Guilty by Schneider/Flaherty ....................... $6.00 Spectre of Forfeiture by Judy Osburn ........................ $14.95 Victims Story Book ed B. Grantland (avail Dec 92) ........... $25.00 For these and other books and tapes write: Freedom's Forum Books, 1800 Market Street, San Francisco, California 94102. Add $2.50 P & H for 1st book and $1.00 for each additional item. Additional hard copies of this attractive 2-color pamphlet are available for 5 cents each (minimum order $1.00). Price includes shipping. This pamphlet is produced as a public service by the International Society for Individual Liberty. If you would like to receive free literature about ISIL's activities around the world, and receive a sample copy of the FREEDOM NETWORK NEWS newsletter and book catalog, please write: INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY 1800 Market Street, San Francisco, California 94102 USA Tel: (415) 864-0952 Fax: (415) 864-7506