Tag: Civil asset forfeiture

Tennessee Civil Asset Forfeiture Brought in $16M in Funds in 2021, But Transparency Lacking

The Center Square
Police traffic stop

In 2021, law enforcement in Tennessee seized $16 million worth of cash and $15.8 million was forfeited in court. But according to annual reports from Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security, departments used just $195,000 of those funds.

Each year since Tennessee law began requiring those disclosures in 2018, similar numbers have appeared.

In 2020, $15 million was seized, $8.4 million was forfeited in the courts but just $1,980 was recorded as being used. In 2019, $12 million was seized, $12 million was forfeited and just more than $300,000 of the proceeds were used.

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Tennessee Group Wants Property Seizure Reform After Indictment of Knox County Sheriff’s Supervisor

The Center Square

The Tennessee chapter of Americans for Prosperity is pushing to reform the state’s forfeiture law after a former Knox County Sheriff’s Office supervisor was accused in a federal indictment of taking seized drug assets and using them for personal use.

Former Assistant Chief David Henderson, head of Knox County’s Narcotics Unit, entered a not guilty plea Friday in court, according to WBIR-TV.

Henderson is accused of using cash and narcotics unit credit cards for the purchase of personal items, including $138,000 worth of Apple products between 2011-2018, $13,000 in Yeti coolers, $2,200 for a Google Nest indoor security system and more, according to the report.

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Georgia General Assembly Will Soon Examine Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws

Chris Butler

Members of the Georgia General Assembly will soon consider two separate bills that pertain to civil asset forfeiture, one which would make it harder for government officials to seize private property. This bill, the Due Process in Civil Forfeiture Act, would increase the burden of proof for the government in civil forfeiture proceedings. The bill would alsoprovide people with public defenders during civil forfeiture proceedings in certain criminal cases.

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Commentary: Seven Specific Policy Ideas for Republican Congressional Candidates

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Washington DC

This year, hundreds of Republican candidates for federal office will be on the ballot this fall, and many of them lack the resources to put together a strong policy team. While taxes, abortion, guns, school choice immigration, and defense are all very important issues, they have limited reach beyond the usual Republican voters. Here are seven policy ideas for House and Senate candidates who would like to expand their platform to try to appeal to more voters – without alienating key elements of the Republican base.

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State Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform, Sent For Summer Study, Now Dead For This Year

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The civil asset forfeiture reform bill was sent for summer study, thereby ending any further discussion or action this year by the Tennessee General Assembly. The bill’s sponsor, Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville) had been working the bill for weeks, which was set to culminate on Tuesday at the bill’s first stop in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee with witnesses to testify on the matter. By the time the HB 0340 was set to be heard, it had 36 bipartisan co-sponsors in the House, including 14 of the 26 House Democrats. In addition, the Nashville Metro Council approved a resolution opposing civil asset forfeiture without a criminal conviction, as reported by The Tennessee Star. The resolution was sent to the Davidson County delegation of the Tennessee General Assembly. However, law enforcement and the Department of Safety had been lobbying hard against the bill. This despite the concerns expressed about the “Civil Rights Implications of Tennessee’s Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws and Practices,” as reported on in February 2018 by the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The Commission found, “Tennessee’s civil asset forfeiture law lacks many procedure safeguards that are commonplace in other states,” and,…

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Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Continues to Receive Resistance in Tennessee

Laura Baigert

Despite actions at the federal level and dozens of states, legislation to reform civil asset forfeiture in Tennessee is continually received with resistance. Civil asset forfeiture is a tool whereby law enforcement seizes assets such as money and property that was obtained illegally by criminals. The goal of law enforcement is to defund the criminals’ enterprise and assist with the funding of law enforcement’s future efforts. The process, though, has come to be referred to as “policing for profit,” because assets have been seized that weren’t directly involved in the commission of a crime, a criminal conviction is not required for the seizure and the rightful owner has to fight in court to win back their own property. The court battle to retrieve one’s property is one of a civil nature, not criminal. As such, the property’s claimant is not entitled to an attorney if they cannot afford one, as a defendant would be so entitled in a criminal case. In a 2015 Tennessee case, a woman and her mother drove to the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center with $12,000 in cash she claimed was raised by family and community members for the purpose of posting bond to secure the…

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Nashville Metro Council Opposes Civil Asset Forfeiture Without Criminal Conviction As State House Prepares for Hearing on Reform Bill

Laura Baigert

The Nashville Metropolitan Council approved a resolution opposing civil asset forfeiture without a criminal conviction on Tuesday, just as a bill aimed at reforming state civil asset forfeiture laws is scheduled to be heard in a House committee meeting this coming week. Nashville Metropolitan Council Resolution RS2019-1628 directs that the Metropolitan Clerk send a copy of the Resolution to the Davidson County delegation of the Tennessee General Assembly. As The Tennessee Star previously reported, Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville) and Senator Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) are the sponsors of a civil asset forfeiture reform bill, filed under HB 0340 and SB 0362, respectively.  It is the only reform bill filed this year under the subject of forfeiture of assets. Civil asset forfeiture laws are intended to assist law enforcement officials in seizing assets illegally obtained by criminals to defund their criminal enterprise and to help fund law enforcement’s future efforts. The civil asset forfeiture process, though, has been turned against innocent citizens and has received national attention, because assets have been seized that weren’t directly involved in the commission of a crime, assets are not necessarily returned even though the owner was never convicted of a crime, and the rightful owner has…

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Proposed Reforms of Civil Asset Forfeiture in Tennessee to Be Heard This Week in House Subcommittee

Laura Baigert

A bill that will make several changes to Tennessee’s civil asset forfeiture procedures will be heard in the Civil Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. House Bill HB 0340, sponsored by Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville), is yet another attempt by the legislator to make the State’s laws more protective of the due process of law and the rights of innocent property owners when it comes to civil asset forfeiture. Daniels sponsored HB 0421 in 2017 where it passed out of the House Civil Justice Committee, but not getting out of the House Criminal Justice Committee, continued into 2018 before its progress was halted by being “taken off notice.” Civil asset forfeiture is a law enforcement tool that permits private property to be seized and retained if it is suspect that it may have been involved in criminal activity without the requirement of a conviction or even criminal charges. In a statement to The Tennessee Star, Representative Daniels said his bill as it stands now will do three things: Require the local district attorney general to examine the facts underlying each seizure and, if the facts do not reveal that the property was taken per probable cause to…

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Due Process Rights Could Make a Comeback in Tennessee Thanks to Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill

Tennessee Star Staff

Americans pride themselves on a commitment to due process rights. We hold criminal defendants “innocent until proven guilty,” and believe that everyone should have his day in court. Yet, thanks to civil forfeiture laws, many innocent people have had their cash and property seized without ever being charged with a crime, and with few legal protections to rely on.

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Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse: Wyoming Highway Patrol Steals Life-Savings from Innocent Musician

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by Anya Bidwell   Phil Parhamovich is a musician from Madison, Wisconsin. Over the years, he saved up $91,800, only to have it seized by Wyoming Highway Patrol during a routine traffic stop near Cheyenne. Civil forfeiture allows law enforcement to take and keep cash, cars and other property without ever charging someone with a crime. Phil was never accused of, or charged with, a crime. Yet, he found himself in the fight of his life to recover the money that belonged to him. Luckily, Phil reached out to the Institute for Justice (IJ), and together we got back Phil’s life savings. But the fight is far from over; Phil’s story only highlights the urgent need to end civil forfeiture.   An Unjust Practice Before that fateful March day, Phil had never heard of civil forfeiture. He was just a musician driving through Wyoming to a show in Salt Lake City. Phil had big plans for his life savings, which he brought with him for safekeeping. He wanted to put a down payment on a historic music studio in Madison where bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage recorded albums. Phil had dreams of opening up the recording studio to other…

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U.S. Government Selling Seized Bitcoins For Big Profits

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The United States government has been granted permission to sell off hundreds of units of cryptocurrency seized by law enforcement from a man alleged to have sold counterfeit pharmaceuticals on the dark web. The move to sell off the seized assets was approved by a federal judge in Utah after a recent filing from a U.S. attorney noted the volatility of cryptocurrency markets and said the confiscated coins may not hold their value in the long term.

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Constitution Series: Civil Asset Forfeiture and the Fourth Amendment

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

    This is the tenth of twenty-five weekly articles in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Series. Students in grades 8 through 12 can sign up here to participate in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Bee, which will be held on September 23. The Bill of Rights–the first ten amendments to the Constitution–were included in the original “covenant” that created the United States because many Americans feared that unless their individual rights were specifically articulated in our country’s founding documents they would be eventually be violated by those in power. The Fourth Amendment, in particular, offers protections to individuals against the police powers of the state: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Anyone who has watched one of the many police procedural dramas on television, like Law & Order, are very familiar with the two key elements of the amendment: (1) “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and…

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