- Did you know that it's legal  for the government to steal?
  That's the simplest description  of an actual law known as
  Civil Asset Forfeiture.
  It lets prosecutors  take permanent ownership
  of a person's property  without having to charge them
  with let alone convict them of a crime.
  Now we live in a system where  people are theoretically
  presumed innocent until  they're proven guilty,
  but this process allows  the government to treat
  your property differently,  often assuming it is guilty
  until you can prove it innocent
  of being connected to a crime.
  This awkward arrangement  means that the state isn't
  prosecuting you, but your stuff.
  It leads to court cases like  the State of Utah versus $500
  or the State of Utah  versus a 2007 Black Mazda.
  Around the country,  forfeitures become so lucrative
  for government agencies that, according to
  the Washington Post, prosecutors  now take more property
  from people than burglars do.
  Focusing on the property  rather than the person
  creates a perverse  incentive for prosecutors,
  rather than focusing on  building evidence of a crime
  and punishing the perpetrator,  prosecutors and police
  become motivated by money.
  - [23rd Agent] Are there  any large sums of money
  over $5,000 in cash in the vehicle?
  - [Policeman] How much money you got?
  - [Policeman] Any large amounts  of U.S. currency in there?
  - I'll take whatever cash you got in there
  and is that a Slurpee in  the cup holder, what flavor?
  Grape, nevermind.
  Do you know what?
  I will take it, I'll take it.
  (audience laughs)
  In many cases, no  criminal charges are filed
  against the property owner at all.
  When they are filed,  prosecutors often agree
  to drop the criminal charges if the person
  allows the government to  keep the seized property.
  That's not justice, it's corruption.
  Libertas Institute has been  fighting civil asset forfeiture
  in Utah for several years,  starting with our investigative
  report in 2013 showing that  the Attorney General's office
  deceived the entire  legislature into passing a law
  that undermined property  rights and due process,
  thereby making it easier for prosecutors
  to forfeit property.
  Since that time, police and  prosecutors have teamed up
  to fight our reform effort  and preserve the status quo.
  Two years ago we proposed  a change in the law
  requiring the government to  furnish detailed information
  about each forfeiture.
  That proposal became law and  earlier this year we gained
  our first glimpse of how  forfeiture is working in Utah.
  The results are, perhaps, unsurprising,
  though certainly alarming.
  98% of forfeitures were  for alleged drug offenses,
  almost every single one
  and 86% of the property taken was cash.
  The average amount was just above $1300.
  Now imagine if you had  a thousand dollars taken
  by the government due to its belief that
  you were gonna buy drugs  even though you weren't.
  Would you pay a lawyer five  thousand dollars to fight
  the forfeiture in hopes of  reclaiming only one thousand?
  Clearly not.
  This explains why most forfeitures in Utah
  are not contested, most  people simply walk away
  and let the government keep the property.
  Crime shouldn't pay, it's  true, but there's another type
  of forfeiture, criminal  forfeiture, which lets
  the government take property  from convicted criminals.
  Those who are presumed  innocent should not have
  their property permanently  taken by the government
  until they're proven guilty.
  - Rough night, huh?
  Ah, well, it's about to get a lot rougher.
  That's 2500 in cash and  you want it hanging out
  in somebody's glove box, huh?
  Answer me.
  - Civil Asset Forfeiture  needs to be reformed in Utah.
  Unfortunately, our tax  dollars are funding those
  who are fighting against that reform.
  The Attorney General's office,
  police chiefs, sheriffs,  county prosecutors, and more.
  Innocent until proven guilty,  it's a bedrock American
  principle, one that Civil  Asset Forfeiture violates.
  It's time to put a stop  to legalized theft.
  For Libertas Institute, I'm Connor Boyack.
  (upbeat tune)
     
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