Libertarian National Committee Political Director Carla Howell was quoted in a blog post in PJ Media on June 8 regarding a letter sent from several U.S. Senators to Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking him to pare down the practice of civil asset forfeiture.
“Carla Howell, political director for the National Libertarian Party, said in an interview last week that civil asset forfeiture has resulted in innocent people having to prove their innocence instead of the government having to prove guilt. She said that in most cases, the legal cost of recovering the property runs higher than the value of the property itself, forcing individuals to take the loss even if there hasn’t been any wrongdoing. Police, she said, should need a higher level of evidence to seize property. According to the party, police seize $5 billion in assets annually through the practice.
“‘As a matter of simple justice and the American way, it’s wrong. It’s further perverted by…policing for profit,’ Howell said, adding that she’s not ‘holding her breath’ in anticipation of reform at the Justice Department. ‘For Sessions not to go along with [the senators’ request would be] a slap in the face of both the American justice system and the American people.’”
Click here to read the full blog post.
