WITF: House and Senate plans would halt a practice that allows law enforcement to seize property from someone accused, but not convicted, of certain crimes.
Supporters of the bills repeatedly equated the policy to theft. Rep. Jim Cox (R-Berks) said civil asset forfeiture is falling more heavily on the poor because most seizures are small sums of cash, far outweighed by the costs of going to court to retrieve seized belongings.
“To hire an attorney for thousands of dollars to get back my $200, you say, ‘eh, it’s not worth it,'” Cox said. “The principle of the thing is worth it, obviously.”… (more)
