Forfeiture Reform:
Now, or Never?

May 3, 1999
Cato Institute,
Washington, DC

American asset forfeiture law has come in for a great deal of criticism in recent years—for both the way it is practiced and the way it is justified. Under this law, police can seize property believed simply to have been “involved” in a crime. Owners then have to prove their innocence to get their property back, which is often impossible. Although its roots go back to antiquity and, in America, to customs law, forfeiture came into its own during Prohibition and then exploded as part of the War on Drugs. Today, however, forfeiture reaches far beyond the drug war: whole businesses and professions have been seized, producing billions of dollars of assets for the government.

Forfeiture has also produced flagrant abuses, leading to calls from all sides for reform. Heading an unlikely left-right coalition for reform is Henry Hyde, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, whose forfeiture reform bill will be the subject of his keynote address. Please join us for a lively debate over one of the hottest law enforcement issues in the country today.

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