Bob Barr: “I would like to thank Mr. Hyde for working so rigorously to come to a reasonable agreement with the Senate on civil…”

“I would like to thank Mr. Hyde for working so rigorously to come to a reasonable agreement with the Senate on civil asset forfeiture reform. The compromise is fair and will restore fairness to this process. Civil asset forfeiture is a mechanism allowing law enforcement authorities to seize assets such as homes, property, cash, and cars that are used in furtherance of criminal activity. However, in recent years, the laws have been used overly broadly, and have been cited by civil libertarians as excessive and open to abuse. One of the most important challenges Congress faces is balancing individual liberties against the need for effective law enforcement. Generally, our laws do this fairly well. However, our civil asset forfeiture laws are tilted too far in one direction. Current civil asset forfeiture laws allow police to seize a person's assets, regardless of whether the person has been, or ever is, convicted of a crime, if police have nothing more than probable cause to believe the property was used for criminal purposes. You are presumed guilty until you can prove yourself innocent. In effect, our current asset forfeiture system targets both criminals and law-abiding citizens, takes their cars, cash, homes, and property away, and then forces them to prove they are innocent in order to get their assets back.”