Iowa Supreme Court Rules Civil Forfeiture Laws Violate Fifth Amendment - Granite Grok

Iowa Supreme Court Rules Civil Forfeiture Laws Violate Fifth Amendment

hundreddollarbills-money-cash-bloomberg-750xx1024-576-0-53From Forbes.com care of Kevin Bloom, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s Civil Asset Forfeiture laws violate the Fifth Amendment to the constitution.

Under state law, property owners who want to reclaim their seized property must fully disclose “the nature and extent” of their interest in the property, as well as “the date, the identity of the transferor, the circumstances of the claimant’s acquisition.” Refusing to comply can result in the property forfeited to the state. Yet those forced disclosures may reveal information that could incriminate the owner or trigger a perjury trap, which would violate the Fifth Amendment.

Writing for the majority, Justice Thomas Waterman noted that Iowa’s forfeiture laws burden owners with a “difficult choice between asserting [their] privilege against self-incrimination or foregoing [their] claim for return of the contested property.”

New Hampshire passed asset forfeiture reforms in 2016.

 New Hampshire became the latest state to roll back civil forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize and keep property without ever filing criminal charges. Under legislation signed by Gov. Maggie Hassan on Friday, the Granite State is now the 11th state to require criminal convictions as a prerequisite in most or all forfeiture cases. The legislationSB 522, also raises the standard of proof to “clear and convincing evidence,” which will better protect property owners in court. In addition, SB 522 requires the attorney general to provide “detailed accounting” of grants made through the state’s drug forfeiture fund. The signing of SB 522 means New Hampshire is the eighth state to have reformed its forfeiture laws in 2016.

The government is still run by people and the desire to find revenue for budgets that are never allowed to shrink continues unchecked. Victories must be defended, and reforms need watchdogs.

But the Iowa Court ruling is a great example of another way we can look at forfeiture laws to protect law citizens from abuse.

More from the Grok on Asset Forfeiture.

 

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