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This specific case was taken and argued by the Institute for Justice (https://ij.org https://ij.org), a civil liberties legal charity, that has a goal of addres

This specific case was taken and argued by the Institute for Justice (https://ij.org https://ij.org), a civil liberties legal charity, that has a goal of addressing exactly this problem. The original civil forfeiture practices were put in place at the height of "the war on drugs" in the 80's as I recall. The rationale was you had drug dealer types that were successfully evading prosecution on the tougher criminal standards of proof while also flaunting the wealth they obtained from their drug related businesses. So the idea was you could have a civil process with a lower standard of proof than the criminal ones with which could punish them. Of course, as the old saying goes, "the path to hell is paved with good intentions." and you get cases like this or worse even. I contribute to the Institute for Justice for just this reason.

dragonwriter 8y ago
> The original civil forfeiture practices were put in place at the height of "the war on drugs" in the 80's as I recall. No, they were in admiralty/customs law and predate the US, but came along with the body of law the US kept at it's founding. There was some new activity around Prohibition. Then big activity starting in 1970 around the drug war. (That's for federal civil forfeiture, while state level civil forfeiture has the same pre-US history, the later evolution varies by state.)
- sbuttgereit 8y ago
  Fair enough. The big push in my lifetime was the big push around drugs. My family was involved in politics in the early 80's (I was fairly young at the time). I recall a lot of "get tough" political talk around that time and some touting establishment/expansion of civil forfeiture for these purposes. In truth, while understanding the history is important, I think that is ultimately secondary to what needs to be done with it now. It's a backdoor to punitive recourse that bypasses legitimate interests of criminality and due process. It's an abomination.

dragonwriter 8y ago

> The original civil forfeiture practices were put in place at the height of "the war on drugs" in the 80's as I recall. No, they were in admiralty/customs law and predate the US, but came along with the body of law the US kept at it's founding. There was some new activity around Prohibition. Then big activity starting in 1970 around the drug war. (That's for federal civil forfeiture, while state level civil forfeiture has the same pre-US history, the later evolution varies by state.)

sbuttgereit 8y ago
Fair enough. The big push in my lifetime was the big push around drugs. My family was involved in politics in the early 80's (I was fairly young at the time). I recall a lot of "get tough" political talk around that time and some touting establishment/expansion of civil forfeiture for these purposes. In truth, while understanding the history is important, I think that is ultimately secondary to what needs to be done with it now. It's a backdoor to punitive recourse that bypasses legitimate interests of criminality and due process. It's an abomination.