Thursday, August 3, 2017

Rand Paul Goes After Civil Asset Forfeiture

In his latestessay for Rare, Senator Rand Paul condemned the government’s abuse of civil asset forfeiture and discussed how his Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act would restore the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” to our justice system.

“A major problem with civil forfeiture is that it does not reflect the fundamental presumption of innocence that is vital to our nation’s criminal justice system,” said Dr. Paul.

“The Fifth Amendment protects Americans from being deprived of their property without due process of law,” he continued, “yet civil forfeiture allows the government to take an individual’s property without first proving guilt.”

The bill would also eliminate the federal equitable sharing program and ensure that law enforcement cannot ignore state law.

"We should not let criminals keep the profits of their crimes, but we must also uphold the fundamental idea that the government should not be able to deprive Americans of their right to property before proving guilt," Rand wrote.



  1. Of course the govt decides what is and isn't a crime...

    1. Good point. One could imagine a government outlawing the carrying of "excessive amounts" of cash in a vehicle, thereby moving such a heinous activity from civil to criminal asset forfeiture.

    2. Exactly. Who's to say that convictions won't skyrocket to reach the same ends?

    3. The judicial system needs be privatized most of all.

  2. It won't matter how good Rand becomes on liberty. The next election will be won by the Democratic candidate regardless of who that is. Trump was the perfect candidate to push the US towards more government and growth of the state. The ideas of liberty are losing with Trump as king while he accelerates the spread of tyranny. Our "savior" will offer socialism and the masses will cheer.