Civil Asset Forfeiture

Poor Neighborhoods Hit Hardest by Asset Forfeiture in Chicago, Data Shows



Asset seizures in Cook County, IL, 2012-2017 // Reason

































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Civil Asset Forfeiture Illinois Chicago


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63 responses to “Poor Neighborhoods Hit Hardest by Asset Forfeiture in Chicago, Data Shows

  1. Yes, the poor are both magnets and easy target for law enforcement, thanks largely to the war on drug users. Drugs give them an excuse and are often the reason these communities themselves demand greater targeted enforcement in poor neighborhoods. And they don’t have the funds to fight back, even before their possessions get stolen.

    1. It’s a Catch 222.


    Let me try.


    1. Ra-cist?


      Oh, wait.

      1. The point is, just because more blacks get stuff confiscated, doesn’t mean it is racially targeting blacks.

        Rape prosecutions are disproportionately against men, doesn’t mean law enforcement is bigoted against men.

        1. Racist housing segregation was government policy into the 1960s at least,into the 1970s in some places. That’s not long enough ago for its consequences to still matter. While any particular locale’s war on drugs may no longer be racially motivated, its roots certainly are.

          And as for the war on drugs not being racist, there’s plenty of evidence that it is, as in minorities being busted at twice or triple the rate for pot when study after study has shown usage is more evenly distributed. Whether the racist attitude is at the neighborhood level or individually targeted doesn’t much matter.

          1. That’s not long enough ago for its consequences to still matter.

            Poorly worded. I mean it’s recent enough that its consequences are still in effect.

            1. I’m not saying police and prosecutors aren’t racist, I’m saying you can’t prove it just by saying blacks get busted more per capita.

              1. When blacks and white use pot at the same rate, yet blacks are busted twice or thrice as often, what other conclusions make any sense? Whether cops are targeting blacks individually, or black neighborhoods in general, it’s still either racism, or you have to fall back on claims of racial ineptitude or stupidty, and if that’s not racist, I wonder what the word even means.





            1. Anecdotes are pretty sorry data.

              1. Why does everyone think this is an ‘anecdote’?

                Look into studies of public drug usage.


        2. Actually, the point is, if you pass a liberty violating law largely on the back of racist reasoning

          and enforce it mostly against poor/minority communities, arguing that it’s not racist isn’t going to hold water with anyone who’s not wholly committed to not accepting that possibility.

          Unlike rape, where the crime violates a third party’s person, drug laws are the state telling you that they exercise more authority over your person than you do. So your point is, it’s perfectly valid for the state to outlaw sex with a person of the same biological gender, and that’s not actually bigoted against gays.

    3. All racism is stupid; not all stupidity is racist.


      1. That was aimed at Tom, in case it wasn’t clear who the retard was.

        1. Nope. You made it crystal clear EXACTLY who the retard is.

  3. The government is picking on the poor? But…but…how could that be? I’ve been assured over and over again by my progressive acquaintances that government is the source of all fairness and charity! Big Brother is the poor man’s friend! Isn’t he?

    1. Cognitive Dissonance ain’t just a river in Egypt.

  4. How is government going to keep poor people poor, if it cannot steal the money they have?

    Cook County cannot have poor people gaining wealth and then moving away like many other people are doing. It will wreck their civil asset forfeiture “tax” base.

  5. They’d better not mess with any Catholic orphanages though; they don’t want to piss off Sister Mary Stigmata.

  6. I would hope that asset seizure would correlate with crime rate.

    Was that car really seized only because the kid was driving without a license? He wasn’t transporting drugs? That is insane.

    1. You don’t have to be that regular a reader of Reason to know that this is really, really typical.

  7. I can see the connection a car or weapons might have to the commission of a crime. Electronics and food though? “Oh, those are probably stolen peas, seize em”?


    1. “C’mon, who BUYS 12 cans of anything at a time. Besides everyone who shops at Costco, I mean.”


    2. Nasty right wing preppers, that who! Lock ’em all up without a trial.


      1. It would be fun to correlate cop spouse shopping lists with cop confiscations.

  8. Start prosecuting officers for armed robbery. It’s the only way to be sure.


    they misidentified the fugitive and pulled over the wrong person.

    1. Did anything bad happen?


    2. Maybe the show will open some eyes as to the nature of our overlords.

      1. Unfortunately, the average person will say, “He shouldn’t have been breaking the law with his weed” rather than “why didn’t the cops apologize and send him on his way when they realized he wasn’t the guy?”.

  10. I can’t get a credit card or checking account so I use cash. Every bill says that it’s good for public or private transactions, or words to that effect. Is there something that I misunderstand?

    1. Or misread?

  11. You’d think if this was a fishing expedition they’d hit the rich neighborhoods where most of the money is. Or… could it be that the poor neighborhoods are where most of the crime is?

    I’m as anti-drug war and asset-theft as anyone but just saying “racism” is the cause of everything bad is really, really lazy.

    1. Everything I was thinking.

      1. Betweehn Rhywun and Bombadil it’s tough to tell who the figure authoritarian, racist, statist cunt is.
        Too close to call.

        1. Nope. You made it crystal clear EXACTLY who the authoritarian, racist, statist cunt is.

          Damn you’re good at this.

    2. They aren’t fishing in rich neighborhoods because they could inadvertently hit the mayor, or someone who knows the mayor, or a lawyer, or someone who has a good lawyer, etc. So it’s not necessarily that they’re targeting minorities, it’s that they’re targeting poor neighborhoods where they know they can get away with it.

      I hate all the race-baiting crap, too, but if it helps people get pissed, then maybe it’s not all bad.


        1. Maybe. I have an acquaintance, though, that is swayed by these arguments. When I pointed out how many dogs the police kill, she was floored, because, as an animal lover, she deplores such behavior. Made her start realizing that my distrust of the police may have merit. Unfortunately, she does seem to believe that police kill many more minorities, and so thinks it’s racism, and doesn’t realize that they’re just murderous and violent thugs that even white folks shouldn’t trust. Pointing out how racist asset forfeiture can be may be another strike against police in her eyes.

  12. Not everyone can afford a William Kuntsler. PBUH.

    1. PBUH: Peanut Butter Und Haagendazs

  13. All this asset theft and yet the state claims the pension funds are all broke.

  14. Why does a cashier’s check for 34 cents even exist?

    1. I’m guessing that it’s the interest on a security deposit. I don’t know about Chicago but in New York when you landlord keeps your security deposit in a bank account they’re legally not allowed to keep the interest because it’s not their money, so if you’re a tenant you wind up getting these really small cashiers checks in the mail a couple times a year.



  16. A D- isn’t an F: there is still room to worsen.

  17. The pigs are evil.
    Let’s not let that reality overshadow the fact that sometimes they specifically target poor minorities.


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  19. Those seizures were heaviest in high crime neighborhoods, according to public records.

    FTFY. The race and class baiting only pisses people off.

    People outside the leftist bubble look at this and–no matter their stance on confiscation–see the racist ‘blame whitey’ position held up over all things.

    Leftists masquerading as liibertarians here say ‘oh, well, it’s okay if it raises awareness….’.

    It’s not though. This reflexive ‘take the leftist side’ thing pisses everyone off, it short circuits any attempts at reform–and it keeps the leftist status quo in place–and yes, confiscation is the leftist status quo–in places where it’s worst, Republicans don’t get elected.

    1. Because someone doesn’t agree with you doesn’t make them a leftist. Not everyone swallows the libertarian/anarchist kool-aid in every flavor. Some of us step back and think about what makes sense and what doesn’t. Some things make sense and some don’t. Zealotry is always bad whether it’s progressive, libertarian, or Tory. Libertarianism in it’s proper form is about thinking, not blindly assuming everyone else is wrong and you’re the only one that’s right.

      1. Ah. Thinking, eh?

        Okay, how’s this–I didn’t accept the racism/classism line that’s routinely fed to us in articles like this. I thought about it and did some checking into things and it turns out that these ARE high crime areas.

        See that? YOU ‘blindly accepted’ the terms of the article. I didn’t. Because everyone has an agenda. Mine is trying to get people to think for themselves.

        This is what a libertarian does.




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  21. Does anyone suspect that civil asset forfeiture will target the real big time drug dealers, criminals and fraudsters? Like the drug wars civil asset forfeiture keeps competition down. The real big time criminals are not affected. If you suspect someone then don’;t think that you can use civil asset forfeiture? It’s a closed club. If you think I’m wrong then report these two suspects to Attorney General Jeff Sessions to see how the door is slammed shut in your face. The suspects are in these YouTube videos. and

  22. Of course it affects poor neighborhoods more; when people can’t make money one way they’ll find another way. Anyway, with that out of the way, this is illegal under the Constitution. I can see holding stuff in escrow until a trial is over but then it has to be released if the person isn’t found guilty. You don’t have to prove where you get money from, you just have to pay taxes on it. Fuck the po-po and their underhanded techniques. Obviously this is what we get from a prison system set up for -only- punishment and not rehabilitation, which would be a lot cheaper. The private prisons want to keep the revolving doors going, and the local DAs and cops what their cut of the loot whether you are guilty or innocent.

  23. Try overlaying those dots with crime reports. See what correlations emerge.

  24. Interesting information, I feel so bad for those who live in the “Poor Areas” that are subjected to these kinds of polls and assessments of drug use due to lack of funds. As if there aren’t good people who just cannot afford the more expensive neighborhoods. So sad. My sister just bought a home in Gurnee IL by D.R. Horton and it’s a great area, but not everyone can afford that. It would be so nice if everyone would stop with the racist comments and just coexist together!

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