I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5847 

To abolish civil asset forfeiture to the Federal Government. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2014 

Mr. STOCKMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To abolish civil asset forfeiture to the Federal Government. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fifth Amendment Res5 toration Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Civil asset forfeiture is the seizure of pri9 vate property by the government without due process 

10 of law. Law enforcement officers routinely seize 

11 money, financial assets and possessions simply by 

12 asserting their intuition or belief that the assets or 


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1 property are connected to some (often unspecified) 

2 illegal activity. 

3 (2) The burden of proof in asset forfeiture pro4 ceedings is placed entirely on the owner to prove his 

5 innocence, instead of the government to prove guilt. 

6 (3) Seized property is often not returned, even 

7 if the owner is never convicted of a crime. Property 

8 is often seized without even charging owners with a 

9 crime. 

10 (4) Many people cannot afford to fight in court 

11 to restore rightful ownership of their property. 

12 (5) Instead of returning property to its rightful 

13 owners, police and agencies often retain seized prop14 erty for their own use, or sell seized property and 

15 keep the income, creating a vested incentive to seize 

16 property for salaries, vehicles, and perks, giving rise 

17 to the euphemism, ‘‘policing for profit’’. 

18 (6) Courts of justice are the proper and legal 

19 venue to determine if property is stolen or used in 

20 the commission of a crime, not individual police offi21 cers or public officials. Stolen property should al22 ways be returned to its lawful owners, and not be23 come the property of police departments. 

24 (7) The Fifth Amendment of the United States 

25 Constitution states, ‘‘No person shall be . . . deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Dec 19, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5847.IH H5847

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1 prived of life, liberty, or property, without due proc2 ess of law’’. 

3 (8) The abolition of civil asset forfeiture re4 stores the Fifth Amendment right to not be deprived 

5 of property without due process of law. 

6 SEC. 3. ABOLITION OF CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

8 (c), no property may be forfeited or seized under any civil 

9 asset forfeiture law. 

10 (b) PROHIBITION ON ADOPTIVE SEIZURES.—No 

11 Federal agency may participate in or benefit from any 

12 multiple-jurisdiction, ‘‘equitable sharing’’, or shared civil 

13 asset forfeiture program with any State or local govern14 ment, nor accept or adopt property seized by a State or 

15 local government. 

16 (c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

17 (1) CONTRABAND.—Nothing in this Act shall 

18 prohibit the forfeiture or seizure of contraband, in19 cluding anything prohibited by law from being im20 ported or exported, and nothing in this Act shall 

21 prohibit the forfeiture or seizure of anything the 

22 possession of which is a crime. 

23 (2) CRIMINAL SEIZURES.—Nothing in this Act 

24 shall prohibit the forfeiture or seizure of property if 

25 the owner of that property has first been convicted 


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1 of a criminal offense that makes the property sub2 ject to forfeiture or seizure. 

3 (d) REMEDY FOR PROPERTY NOT LAWFULLY

4 SEIZED.—Property unlawfully seized in violation of this 

5 Act shall be restored to the owner of that property with 

6 all deliberate speed. 

7 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

8 (1) CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE LAW.—The term 

9 ‘‘civil asset forfeiture law’’ means any provision of 

10 Federal law providing for the seizure or forfeiture of 

11 property other than as a sentence imposed upon con12 viction for a criminal offense. 

13 (2) PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘property’’ includes 

14 anything owned by a person or entity including real 

15 property and personal property including financial 

16 assets and commonly held property owned by more 

17 than one person. 

Æ 


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