DEA Seized $3.2 Billion in Cash Without Filing Charges or Judicial Oversight

by | Apr 3, 2017

DEA Seized $3.2 Billion in Cash Without Filing Charges or Judicial Oversight

by | Apr 3, 2017

Yesterday [March 29], the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report criticizing the DOJ’s seizures and forfeitures of cash. According to the report, of the nearly 100,000 cash seizures that occurred since 2007, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was responsible for 80 percent—a total value of $4.15 billion. Eighty-one percent of those seizures, a total value of $3.2 billion, were forfeited administratively, meaning without charging someone with a crime or any judicial oversight. As the OIG report notes, “asset seizure and forfeiture also present unique potential risks to civil liberties.”

Civil forfeiture allows law enforcement agencies to seize property and cash without any criminal charges. Administrative forfeitures happen automatically when a property owner fails to challenge a seizure in court for any reason, including the inability to afford a lawyer or a missed deadline to file a claim. The property is then forfeited through a simple paper work shuffle, with the seizing agency acting as investigator, prosecutor, and judge. As a form of civil forfeiture, administrative forfeiture presumes the property is guilty and places the burden of proving its innocence on the owner. Also, because this is not a criminal procedure, property owners are not entitled to an attorney. This makes the process prone to abuse.

Read the rest at the Institute for Justice.

About Institute for Justice

The Institute for Justice is the nation's only libertarian, civil liberties, public interest law firm.

Our Books

latest book lineup.

Related Articles

Related

In Defense of Inaction

In Defense of Inaction

On March 17, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by a woman named Mary Anastasia O’Grady titled, “Giving up on Haiti Isn’t a U.S. Option.” She argues, in short, that Americans don’t have a choice but to continue doing all the things that have failed in the past...

read more
Is America a Rogue Superpower?

Is America a Rogue Superpower?

“Unipolar” used to mean that the United States was, at least in theory, alone in leading the world. Now “unipolar” means that the United States is alone and isolated in opposition to the world. In global affairs, a hegemon is a nation that leads because it has the...

read more
Collateral Murder 2.0

Collateral Murder 2.0

When the footage of Reuters journalists and civilians were Wikileaked to the world, there was outrage. A shame exhibited by some in the American government caused them to reel from the crime that had been exposed, to downplay the prevalence of such murders, and...

read more
The Fed and the Fight for 2%

The Fed and the Fight for 2%

Last week, Jerome Powell & Co. met to issue an immediate decision regarding the status of the federal funds rate for March, and to provide some insight into the trajectory of monetary policy for the rest of 2024 and into 2025. As with the past few inflation...

read more
Truth Has No Chance on Capitol Hill

Truth Has No Chance on Capitol Hill

Americans are encouraged to believe that the U.S. Congress is practically on automatic pilot to serve the public. Happily, most Americans are not so gullible and Congress receives much of the contempt it deserves in public opinion polls. But the media and the...

read more