We all want to take pride in our legal system, considering how far it has come. However, between new laws and new interpretations of old laws, it changes constantly. If we want our voices to get heard during this change, we have to educate ourselves about the finer points. To that end, we’ve presented a little information about a current controversy: civil asset forfeiture.
How it works:
This practice allows cops to charge a piece of property rather than a person. When they do this, the owner has the burden of proof on him/her to persuade the court that they got their property through legal channels.
The purpose of civil asset forfeiture involves fighting the drug war. When cops don’t have enough evidence to charge someone for a drug crime, at least they can seize their profits.
Unfortunately, the costs of court generally outweigh the value of property taken, so most of the victims of civil asset forfeiture never go to court.
Opponents of this practice say cops have incentive (because they usually get to keep a portion of the worth of the seized property) to take property regardless of suspicion of a crime.
Proponents argue for the necessity of forfeiture in combating drug use and abuse.
Decide for yourself the direction you want this practice to go; as a voter, you have the power to affect this. If you ever find yourself in need of bail bonds, ATX Bail Bonds can help. To find out more, give us a call at (512) 834-2245.