My first change would be to shift the burden of proof. Right now civil forfeiture includes a presumption of guilt. Switch that to a presumption of innocence a

My first change would be to shift the burden of proof. Right now civil forfeiture includes a presumption of guilt. Switch that to a presumption of innocence and many of these problems would go away. That presumption of guilt is somewhat central to the civil forfeiture process, so whether this a a "reform" or "complete elimination" is a semantic debate. There are certainly some instances in which the forfeiture is just. The previous mentioned Madoff case is one example.