It not only gave the police the power to terrorize innocent citizens, it also allowed the police to finance their own new police state out of the property seized, she claims. And excesses do come with little oversight. Opponents cite the case of a local district attorney in Suffolk County, N.Y., who drives a BMW 735i seized from an alleged drug dealer. Another case cited is the assistant chief prosecutor in Warren County, N.J., who drives a confiscated yellow Corvette. But it s not only law enforcement that appears to benefit directly from the cash cow of asset forfeiture.
Private companies hired by federal and local agencies also gain.
Though no one is accusing these companies of wrongdoing, critics of the system point out that huge profits are generated from the programs, sometimes at the expense of innocent victims for whom there are no available government services to help return their property. But Hyde reminds Insight that his bipartisan legislation at least has fixed some of the problems with civil-asset forfeiture. It s a good start, he says. The government now will have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is subject to forfeiture a much higher standard than the current probable cause. His new law also eliminates the cost-bond requirement and requires federal prosecutors to show that there is a substantial connection between the property and the crime.