Justice Department Resumes Illegal Search and Seizures

For years the US government has facilitated the violation of constitutional law by supporting state "rights" to illegally seize the assets of criminal suspects who have not been convicted of a crime. Under these unconstitutional practices, local and state authorities seized assets of suspected criminals using federal adoptive forfeiture practices. In 2015 Attorney General Eric Holder, who recognized the constitutional violation of such practices, put a stop to it. A March 2017 Justice Department report found that in the eight years prior to Holder stopping the practice, its use led to forced forfeiture of about $880 million in assets. These assets were unlawfully taken from suspected criminal defendants, not convicted ones. 

While constitutional law advocates applauded Holder's reversal of this unconstitutional practice, within the first 100-day legacy of the Trump administration the new Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed Holder's decision and re-sanctioned law enforcement to continue their constitutionally invalid search and seizure practices.

Tough on crime advocates may applaud this Trump administration decision because it means additional funds for state and federal law enforcement agencies, but those who are quick to applaud such measures ought to reconsider their position. This illegal search and seizure practice is not against convicted criminals, but against those who are suspected of committing a crime. A core American principle is the protection of its citizens against government overreach through Constitutional Amendments like the 4th Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure. When we allow local, state, and federal authorities the autonomy to take the assets of its citizens without due process, we afford our government too much authority. 

When its Constitution no longer protects citizens who have not been convicted of a crime, America ought to be gravely concerned. This unlawful practice also ought to alarm America's citizens and alert them to the reality that when its citizens do not hold them accountable, government authority is often misused and abused. If the American government abuses the constitutional protections of its law-abiding citizens, it is no small jump to conclude that many of the constitutional violations claimed against state and federal law enforcement and court systems by citizens who have been convicted of crimes (often because of those violations) are founded in truth. Americans must stand up and demand integrity from their government. Failing to do so may mean that you, law abiding or not, may be the next citizen to find himself or herself railroaded by a government who operates outside the law.