Her agency, however, would have a harder time swallowing revisions to deposit the proceeds from civil forfeitures into the state's general fund, rather than going directly to law-enforcement agencies. Amy Dehner, legislative liaison for the agency. Michigan lawmakers are looking to revise the law by raising the seizure threshold in relation to drug statutes to "clear and convincing evidence." The state House package of bills also would boost reporting and transparency requirements for agencies executing seizures - a concept supported by the Michigan State Police, said Sgt. "The problem is a person can be acquitted of all criminal charges in Michigan and still lose all their seized property in civil forfeiture." "It's bad," said Lee McGrath, legislative counsel for the Institute of Justice. The statistics cover only seizures allegedly connected to drug crimes and not other state laws authorizing civil forfeiture. Michigan law enforcement agencies under state law seized or shared in seizure proceeds totaling more than $24 million in 2013, the latest year for which data are available from Michigan State Police. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and a diverse array of groups from the National Federation of Independent Business, the libertarian-minded Freedom Works, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Heritage Foundation. Supporters of the bill include liberal Democrats such as Rep. It would end the program that allows state and local law enforcement agencies to share in up to 80 percent of the proceeds of forfeiture cases they transferred to the federal government. The Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act, or FAIR Act, would raise the burden of proof in civil forfeiture cases to a "clear and convincing" standard. He said that because the agencies get to keep the cash or the sale proceeds of the property, they have a financial incentive to "police for profit" by seizing as much as possible. "We want to restore people's faith in the system," Walberg said. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, introduced a bill this session aiming to ensure the use of civil asset forfeiture is not abused.
Michigan ranked among the five states with the least amount of citizen protections against civil forfeiture, according to a 2010 report by the nonprofit law firm, Institute for Justice. In June, the Michigan House approved an eight-bill package to start reforming the state's seizure process. "I've changed my whole life."Įxperiences like Rivers' have fueled the legislative revolt. "That had no relevance to why he was trying to take my money," Rivers said. He previously received probation for concealed-weapon and felony assault charges. A gun charge in 2011 landed Rivers two years in prison. I didn't want to seem like I wasn't cooperating," said Rivers, who believes he was targeted because he's young and black.
Among his video and music equipment, the agent found the cash - still in the withdrawal envelope from Chase Bank, Rivers said. Rivers said the agent that day questioned many people in his Amtrak car, but asked to search only his bag. Officials say agents usually look for "indicators," such as whether travelers buy an expensive one-way ticket with cash, or if they are traveling to or from a city known as a hot spot for drug activity. Sean Waite, the agent in charge of the DEA office in Albuquerque, declined to comment on Rivers' case.
Property owners have no right to counsel or, in most cases, a pre-seizure hearing. Under the law, the burden is placed on a property owner to contest the seizure within a set time period and prove the property was obtained legitimately. Unlike criminal forfeiture, conviction is not required in civil forfeiture. He hired a lawyer to help get his money back, but experts say the process likely will take many months. Rivers was never charged with a crime or formally detained in connection with the mid-April episode. Drug Enforcement Administration agent wouldn't change his mind even after Rivers put him on the phone with his mother, who confirmed his story. "My initial reaction was, like, I'm being robbed," recalled Rivers, 22. There, a federal agent stripped him of $16,000 in cash that he'd saved to shoot a music video in California.
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