November, 23 2015, 12:00pm EDT
ACLU Renews Call for Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Following Florida Legislature Report
Last Friday, the Florida Legislature Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) released a report entitled "Civil Asset Forfeiture in Florida: Policies and Practices."
TALLAHASSEE
Last Friday, the Florida Legislature Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) released a report entitled "Civil Asset Forfeiture in Florida: Policies and Practices."
Civil asset forfeiture laws allow police to seize, and then keep or sell, any private property they allege is involved in a crime. Owners need not even be arrested or convicted for cars, cash, and in some cases even real estate to be taken away permanently by the government. Florida's civil forfeiture statute has led to police agencies using the seizure of private property as a source of profit rather than a public safety mechanism.
The OPPAGA report states that there are no requirements for local law enforcement agencies in Florida to report such seizures, but its voluntary survey -in which half of Florida's police and sheriff's office participated - found almost 19,000 seizure actions over the past five years, with vehicles and currency being the most commonly seized assets. It also found that:
- 86% of seizures are drug related;
- Only 16% of individuals challenge their seizure and only another 1% benefit from a full trial;
- And the proceeds account for only 2.3% of agencies' operating budgets.
Responding to the report, ACLU of Florida's Director of Public Policy Michelle Richardson stated:
"Now that OPPAGA's report has documented how often Florida's police agencies are seizing personal property, it is time for the legislature, which commissioned the report, to take action to bring an end to abuses of the system.
"The legislature now has the facts and it should take up the reforms proposed in the report, including requiring a conviction before forfeiture, increasing the standard of proof required to match that of criminal cases, and limiting how police agencies can use the proceeds gained by the sale of forfeited assets. There shouldn't be a profit motive driving police to take property from the public.
"Other states have changed their laws to prevent people and their property from being preyed on by the police that are charged with protecting them. It's time for Florida to follow suit."
The full OPPAGA report is available here: https://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/MonitorDocs/Reports/pdf/1510rpt.pdf
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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Despite 100% Pentagon Audit Failure Rate, House Passes $883.7 Billion NDAA
"Instead of fighting the rising cost of healthcare, gas, or groceries, this Congress prioritized rewarding the wealthy and well-connected military-industrial complex," said Defense Spending Reduction Caucus co-chairs.
Dec 11, 2024
Despite the Pentagon's repeated failures to pass audits and various alarming policies, 81 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with 200 Republicans on Wednesday to advance a $883.7 billion annual defense package.
The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, unveiled by congressional negotiators this past Saturday, still needs approval from the Senate, which is expected to vote next week. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he plans to vote no and spoke out against the military-industrial complex.
The push to pass the NDAA comes as this congressional session winds down and after the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced last month that it had failed yet another audit—which several lawmakers highlighted after the Wednesday vote.
Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, "Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home."
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Several of the 124 House Democrats who voted against the NDAA cited those "culture war" policies, in addition to concerns about how the Pentagon spends massive amounts of money that could go toward improving lives across the country.
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As Omar, a leading critic of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, also pointed out: "The NDAA includes a provision that blocks the Pentagon from using data on casualties and deaths from the Gaza Ministry of Health or any sources relying on those statistics. This is an alarming erasure of the suffering of the Palestinian people, ignoring the human toll of ongoing violence."
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