I think you are missing a key element of civil asset forfeiture, its based around the government starting legal proceedings against the property itself for "par

I think you are missing a key element of civil asset forfeiture, its based around the government starting legal proceedings against the property itself for "participating" in criminal activity. This is why the person who owns or posses the property doesn't have to be arrested or convicted of a crime for it to proceed. This goes back to English common law, but so did a lot of other really stupid ideas. Largely these laws are a result of judicial decisions of courts and not legislative bodies of government.