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Drug Forfeiture Laws Coming Up for a Vote


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Subject: Urgent: 6/18 Vote On Forfeiture Reform Bill (Tomorrow)

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Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet) Rapid Response Team
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Please copy and distribute.
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Did you know that the United States Department of "Justice" seizes $500
million from Americans each year? Did you know that eighty percent of
the people whose property is forfeited by DOJ and other agencies are
NEVER EVEN CHARGED WITH A CRIME? Did you know the government can take
your property even if you are completely innocent, unless you prove that
no one used your property illegally, even without your knowledge?

The extent to which property rights have been gutted by civil asset
forfeiture is so outrageous that even many reform advocates have trouble
believing it. But the "Dear Colleague" letter attached below, sent by
Reps. Hyde, Conyers, Barr and Frank, introducing the "Civil Asset
Forfeiture Reform Act of 1997" to all the Representatives of Congress,
uses the word "unbelievable" to describe the current state of asset
forfeiture law. H.R. 1835 is a truly bipartisan effort at meaningful
reform.

We've been informed that tomorrow, Wednesday June 18, the House
Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on H.R. 1835. The bill has an
excellent chance of passage, but the U. S. Department of Justice (often
known as the Department of Injustice) is working furiously to get H.R.
1835 watered down and neutralize the important reforms it would make.

The Department of Justice is addicted to forfeiture money. Just as
friends sometimes intervene to help their friends deal with destructive
addictions, it's our duty as citizens to help our government break its
harmful addiction to civil asset forfeiture.

Please contact the Judiciary Committee today, at (202) 225-3951 (phone)
or (202) 225-7682 (fax), and ask them to pass H.R. 1835 AS ORIGINALLY
INTRODUCED. Also please ask your own Representative to co-sponsor and
vote for H.R. 1835. You can reach your rep (or find out who your rep is)
through the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 or (800)
972-3524. (If you get this message too late, please call anyway.
These votes are sometimes postponed, and it will only help for later in
the process.)

More information on H.R. 1835 is available on the web site of the
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers,
<http://www.criminaljustice.org>. The full text of H.R. 1835, along
with general info on floor action and co-sponsors, can be found at
<http://thomas.loc.gov> by searching under 105th Congress. General
information on asset forfeiture is available from Forfeiture Endangers
American Rights, <http://www.fear.org>. We learned about tomorrow's
vote from the Marijuana Policy Project, <http://www.mpp.org>.

==========

The following is the "Dear Colleague" letter sent by the bill's
sponsors:

U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary
One Hundred Fifth Congress

CO-SPONSOR BI-PARTISAN ASSET FORFEITURE REFORM

Dear Colleague:

Over the last decade, our two-century old civil asset forfeiture
laws have been recruited in the war against crime. The federal
government is taking hundreds of millions of dollars a year in proceeds
from cash and property used in criminal activities. Unfortunately, it
has become all too apparent in recent years that these civil asset
forfeiture laws are sometimes being used in terribly unjust ways,
depriving innocent citizens of their property without basic due process.
Believe it or not, Federal officials have the power to seize your home,
your car, your business and your bank account -- all without indictment,
hearing or trial.

Imagine this. You make the mistake of buying an airplane ticket
with cash -- behavior that is deemed to fit a drug courier profile -- so
you are detained and searched. No drugs are found, but the agents seize
the cash in your wallet, saying they have "probable cause" to believe
that the money was intended to buy drugs. You are allowed to leave and
are not charged with any crime, but the agents keep your property.

What recourse do you have to get your property back? Very
little, because the law treats the property, rather than you, as the
offending object. None of the Constitutional or procedural safeguards
of the criminal law are available, because you are not being threatened
with a deprivation of liberty. In fact, the law doesn't require that
you ever be charged with a crime. Instead of the government having to
prove that it had "probable cause" to believe that your seized property
was being used in connection with a crime it is up to you to prove that
it did not. Your only other hope is to prove that your property was
'innocent' of its alleged connection with a crime. But the alleged
criminal conduct needn't even involve you -- it could just as easily be
a crime allegedly committed by the previous owner of your property, or
by someone who, unbeknown to you, is using your property in a criminal
endeavor.

And if this weren't bad enough, you must provide a 10% bond for
the privilege of even contesting the government's seizure. Don't expect
to have an attorney provided to help you if you are indigent, but
familiarize yourself with the legal procedure quickly -- you only have
10 days to file your claim. Even assuming you somehow prevail, the
government is not liable for any interest on your money, or in the case
of seized property, any damage caused by its handling or storage.

As unbelievable as this all seems, this is now the law! And
with the government's interest in increasing available funds, there is
little incentive for law enforcement officials to refrain voluntarily
from vigorously exploiting this tool. It is incumbent on the Congress
to reform the system to make it consistent with the basic presumption in
American law -- that you are innocent until proven guilty, and that you
should not lose your property without due process of law.

To this end, we will soon be introducing the "Civil Asset
Forfeiture Reform Act." It puts the burden of proof back where it
belongs -- on the government. And it requires the government to prove
its case by clear and convincing evidence. It also provides indigent
defendants with appointed counsel, allows property owners who take
reasonable steps to prevent others from using their property in criminal
activity to get their property back, eliminates the cost bond
requirement, provides compensation for damage caused to the property,
extends the time for filing of a claim, and sets a time certain for the
government to commence a judicial proceeding.

Civil asset forfeiture reform is supported by the National
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Institute for Justice, and
the American Civil Liberties Union. If you would like to be a
co-sponsor, or if you would like more information, please call Judiciary
Committee counsel Diana Schacht at extension S3951.

Sincerely,

HENRY J. HYDE JOHN CONYERS, JR.
Chairman, Ranking Member,
Judiciary Committee Judiciary Committee

BOB BARR BARNEY FRANK
Member, Ranking Member,
Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Courts
and Intellectual Property

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