Editorial: Hickenlooper should sign bill requiring civil asset forfeiture disclosure

The Denver Post: When police seize property and cash, we’d much prefer those on the losing end get more due process rather than less, and that’s exactly what Colorado House Bill 1313 accomplishes by requiring all but the largest forfeiture cases go through state instead of federal processes.

We urge Gov. John Hickenlooper not to veto this important bill that also requires law enforcement agencies to disclose their seizure revenue online and document how any of that money was spent. The governor is under considerable pressure to veto this bill from many of the state’s sheriffs, chiefs of police, counties and municipalities.

Civil asset forfeiture came under intense scrutiny in 2014 when The Washington Post launched an investigation into law enforcement agencies that abused the process. Reporters found that if you are suspected of a crime, law enforcement can seize your assets — without a warrant — and keep that money even if criminal charges are never brought. In federal civil asset forfeiture, the onus of proving the money was legally obtained falls on the suspect. In Colorado civil asset forfeiture cases, the onus falls on the state to proceed with a criminal case within a set amount of time to prove the money was tied to illegal activity.

Civil asset forfeiture is a powerful tool to shut down drug operations, human trafficking and sometimes white-collar schemes as quickly as possible. If a federal investigator can’t immediately prove their criminal case, they can at least seriously hamper the operation by taking assets while they build a case.

However, given the lack of due-process protections, use of the tool ought to be limited and oversight robust.

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