Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday advised his Department of Justice (DOJ) to re-establish a criminal asset seizure program that had been curbed under pressure from lawmakers and civil liberties groups worried that the policy is ripe for abuse.
The Justice Department, with President Trump’s support, will give new authority to law enforcement agencies to seize money, contraband and property when they can prove those assets are the ill-gotten gains of criminal activity.
In an agency-wide memo, the acting chief of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, Deborah Connor, characterized the program as an essential tool in starving gang members, drug traffickers and terrorists of their means and tools.
The proceeds, the Justice Department says, will infuse law enforcement agencies with financial resources, equipment and training in the fight against violent crime.
“Agencies and components should prioritize the adoption of assets that will advance the Attorney General’s Violent Crime Reduction Strategy,” Connor said. “The Department, through legal counsel for federal investigative agencies as well as through the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, will continue to ensure that adoptions are conducted in compliance with law and Department policies.”
But some critics, like Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), worry that the policy will be abused by rogue government agents to steal from the innocent, who don’t have the means to challenge the seizures in court.
“This is a troubling decision for the due process protections afforded to us under the Fourth Amendment as well as the growing consensus we’ve seen nationwide on this issue,” Issa said in a statement.
“Ramping up adoptive forfeitures would circumvent much of the progress state legislatures have made to curb forfeiture abuse. Criminals shouldn’t be able to keep the proceeds of their crime but innocent Americans shouldn’t lose their right to due process, or their private property rights, in order to make that happen.”
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Sessions reinstates federal program that allows government to seize assets of people suspected of crimes: https://t.co/Flb93NrDUX pic.twitter.com/lDUQDP6hV0
— The Hill (@thehill) July 19, 2017
DOJ seems determined to lose in court before adopting asset forfeiture policies that protect due process rights: https://t.co/nM0tsTpijM
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) July 19, 2017
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