A Democrat Said Something Intelligent For Once

Incredible but true. Even more incredible is that the Democrat who said it is Jamie Raskin, the man who has a penchant for flashy durags, albeit to cover up for hair loss while undergoing chemotherapy.

In a recent interview with Forbes, Raskin explained how he has been trying to reform civil asset forfeiture laws. If you have never come across them, make sure you stay that way, because in the United States they are Draconian. Not only that, they are abused more than used. They have been on the books since the 1980s when they were used as a weapon in the war on drugs but quickly mushroomed into something sinister. Civil asset forfeiture reverses the burden of proof and in effect allows the authorities to steal people’s property. The bottom end sees men, usually young black men in urban areas, being stopped in the street and searched.

“Where did you get that $50?”

“It’s mine”.

“I think this is drug money so I’m confiscating it”.

It’s as simple as that.

At the top end, some of the seizures involved beggar belief. In August 2020, truck company owner Jerry Johnson flew from Charlotte to Phoenix with $39,500 in cash. You can read what happened to him here. But for the Institute For Justice his story might not have had such a happy ending. 

Civil asset forfeiture is practised by the Federal Government as well as by local police forces. People can sue to get their money back but the process is convoluted and expensive, so much so that an aggrieved person may still end up out of pocket even if he wins in court. 

Thankfully, people who matter are at last beginning to notice this abuse. In November 2020, police searched a hire car in Mooresville, North Carolina finding around half an ounce of marijuana and over $16.000 in cash. They seized (stole) the money as the profits of drug dealing. The victim would eventually get his money back, but not before a judge had threatened to jail those concerned for contempt after the police had tried to play games by passing on the money to the Federal Government.

If Jamie Raskin can bring an end to this state tyranny, he might yet justify his existence, although if the Republicans don’t take back the White House in 2024, there might not be a country left to save.