Civil Forfeiture Explained by John Oliver on HBO

Civil Forfeiture Explained by John Oliver on HBO

Civil forfeiture is a case brought directly against your property, you don’t need to be charged with a crime because it’s not you that’s on trial it’s your stuff, and your property is guilty until you prove it innocent.

The way civil forfeiture generally works is that if the police believe they have a preponderance of the evidence that suggests your property was or could be used in a crime they may confiscate it and it gets even weirder. Many folks are unfamiliar with the idea of civil forfeiture which is actually a case brought directly against a piece of property. You don’t need to be proven guilty of a crime, and you don’t need to be charged with a crime because it’s not you that’s on trial it’s your stuff. That’s what these cases have historically had I caching names, such as all of these are real United States versus 8850 dollars in U.S. currency, United States versus an article consisting of 50,000 cardboard boxes more or less each containing one pair of cracker bones, and the United States versus approximately 65,000 pounds of shark fins, which must have been an amazing court case, do you see those shark fins in the room, let the record show the witness is pointed at roughly 65,000 pounds of shark fins. It’s also worth noting that your possessions generally have fewer protections under the law than you do under civil forfeiture laws. Your property is guilty until you prove it innocent. How can that be possible at this point? I’m surprised objects don’t have their own civil rights leader like Martin scooter King or Harvey’s carton of milk.