A bill that would abolish civil forfeiture and replace it with criminal forfeiture, while still allowing property used for illegal purposes to be seized for evidence, was passed Tuesday, March 20 by the Minnesota House Civil Law and Data Practices Policy Committee.
The practice known as civil forfeiture lets the government take and keep cash, cars and other assets without convicting or even charging someone with a crime.
“In theory, civil forfeiture is supposed to punish criminals, particularly drug dealers, by taking proceeds of illegal activity,” said Rep. Jim Knoblach, House chief author of the legislation. “But in reality, innocent people are losing their property without a meaningful requirement that prosecutors prove wrongdoing.”
In 2014, the legislature recognized there was a problem and passed a bill to rein in civil forfeiture by requiring a criminal conviction before a person’s property could be forfeited in civil court. Unfortunately, that legislation left major loopholes. In the years following that reform, the number of civil forfeitures, including those without criminal convictions, has remained largely the same.
Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud) and Sen. Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson) have introduced HF 3725/SF 3419 to close those loopholes. Replacing civil forfeiture with criminal forfeiture will fix the biggest problem with the current system.
“Currently when property is seized the owner enters criminal court, but the property enters the civil system, where it’s much easier for the government to win,” said Sen. Newman, the chief author of the Senate bill. “To get their property back in the civil system, owners must file a civil lawsuit against their own property, leading to bizarre case names like Laase v. 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe, an actual Minnesota Supreme Court case. We need to end this dual-track system and ensure that Minnesotans who are innocent owners don’t have their property taken in cases where there are no criminal charges.”
As it stands today, if the owner does not file a lawsuit, the property is forfeited “administratively,” regardless of whether the owner is guilty or innocent. Over 95 percent of forfeiture cases are handled this way. That’s an enormous loophole that largely undermines Minnesota’s current conviction requirement.
“A State Auditor’s report revealed that the average forfeiture is less than $1,700 and nearly 95 percent of forfeiture cases involved amounts of less than $5,000,” said Lee McGrath, Managing Attorney for the Institute for Justice in Minneapolis. “In the vast majority of cases, the cost of hiring a lawyer is greater than the value of property seized, meaning innocent people often let their property go, rather than fight back.”
Abolishing civil forfeiture has earned support from across the political spectrum. Conservative organizations including Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Freedom Works, and the Faith & Freedom Coalition have joined with the ACLU, the Institute for Justice, the Justice Action Network and others in support of this reform.
“This common-sense reform will protect Minnesotans from having their property unjustly seized and increase trust in our law enforcement system,” said Jason Flohrs, State Director for the Minnesota Chapter of Americans for Prosperity. “No one should have their property taken simply because they had an encounter with law enforcement. Passing this reform ensures that asset forfeiture only applies to those convicted of a crime while protecting the property rights and due process rights of innocent citizens.”
Senator Scott Newman is in his third term representing District 18, which includes communities in McLeod, Meeker, Sibley, and Swift counties. He serves as chairman of the Senate Transportation Finance and Policy Committee.