On Tuesday, September 12, the House of representatives voted for an amendment limiting the practice of confiscation of property from persons suspected of illegal activities, but not charged with crimes, reports The Hill.
The new bill was adopted almost unanimously, has gained approval from legislators from both parties.
The essence of the amendments is to significantly limit the rights of law enforcement agencies to confiscate property and assets of the suspects. In addition, the Federal government now will not be able to use assets seized by local authorities.
Critics say this practice has allowed local authorities to circumvent state laws, which sometimes were more stringent on this issue than Federal. Nearly twenty States have laws that allow the authorities to confiscate the property if the suspect has not been convicted of a crime.
The amendment was adopted on the Federal level, there are now new rules will be binding in all States.
In July, attorney General Jeff sessions rejected the Ministry’s proposal to abolish completely the practice of confiscation, saying that «divestment is one of the most effective tools in the fight against crime, and the use of this practice should be encouraged where it is needed».
In practice, authorities often confiscate the property which, in their opinion, could potentially be used to commit a crime, even if the owner did not commit a criminal offense. The opportunity to profit from the sale of confiscated property motivates the authorities to seize as much property.
In March the inspector General of the Ministry of justice presented a report, according to which, since 2000, more than $ 4 billion of the confiscated funds were provided to victims of crime.
6 billion dollars of income from forfeited property received from Federal and local law enforcement agencies over the same period.
