February 18, 2021
By Jenna Bentley
Today, the Goldwater Institute’s reform of civil asset forfeiture in Arizona took an important step forward when its legislation (HB 2810, sponsored by Rep. Travis Grantham) passed the House Criminal Justice Reform Committee with unanimous support. This long-overdue bill states that law enforcement must obtain a conviction before the government can take your property, along with other critical safeguards.
Civil asset forfeiture allows police and prosecutors in states across the country to take, keep, and profit from someone’s property without even charging them with a crime—much less convicting them of one. Originally created to fight organized crime, civil forfeiture is now mostly used against single individuals for small amounts of money or property. Half of all currency forfeitures in Arizona are for less than $1,000. In Arizona, you do not need be charged with a crime for your property to be taken forever. Even worse, innocent owners have to prove that their property wasn’t involved in criminal activity in order to get it back, which is a difficult feat.
Fortunately, HB 2810 will help protect the rights of Arizonans by:
Reforms to civil asset forfeiture laws have garnered bipartisan support nationally. In a recent study, Arizona scored a D- for our poor citizen protections in this practice. HB 2810 creates additional safeguards for innocent Arizonans while still allowing law enforcement to stop those who are profiting from their criminal activities.
HB 2810 is soon headed to the House floor. Requiring a criminal conviction before forfeiture is a commonsense reform that will help protect Arizonans’ property and due process rights, while allowing law enforcement to stop those who are profiting from criminal activity.
Click here for more information about the Goldwater Institute’s work to stop civil asset forfeiture.
Jenna Bentley is the Director of Government Affairs at the Goldwater Institute.
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