Article from FLN Staff.

Republicans tend to be critical of civil forfeiture, and are urging former Alabama senator and current Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to roll back the practice that he supports. “With care — we’ve gotta be careful — and professionalism, we plan to develop policies to increase forfeitures,” Sessions said in July.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who wasn’t buying it, told Fox News that in America, “you should be innocent until proven guilty and your property shouldn’t be taken without a court trial.” Sen. Paul continued, “The fact that Attorney General Sessions is going all-in on this really is offensive to a lot of us who have been trying to reform this situation.”

Fox reported the story in Sessions’ own state of Alabama, where a car dealer, who was alleged to have taken drug money for cars, had over $24,000 confiscated from him, and his reputation ruined by local prosecutors; his business was ruined, and the ordeal cost him $300,000. Such cases have become all too common, as many state and local governments have come to rely on the practice as a revenue stream like it was just another tax.

The practice was originally meant to recapture drug money but has morphed into organized theft by the state against people in blatant violation of their right to due process, as many cases occur without a trial. There are proposed laws in the states to roll back such abuses, but the Attorney General himself should refrain from abusing the powers of the federal government to violate the property rights of Americans, and intervene against such abuses in the states.