FreedomWorks is proud to honor Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) as our member of the month for July 2019. Rep. Cline represents the people of Virginia’s 6th Congressional District, which encompasses the area of western Virginia along I-81 that includes Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, and Roanoke.

FreedomWorks recognizes Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) as member of the month for May 2018. He proudly represents Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, located in the Piedmont region of the state to the west of its capital city of Richmond. Before entering the political sphere, Rep. Brat was a professor of economics for nearly two decades at Randolph-Macon College just outside of the district he now represents.

Private property rights protections are a little stronger today in the Commonwealth of Virginia. On Friday, Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed legislation that increases the evidentiary standard in civil asset forfeiture cases. Though a lot of work remains to reform Virginia's civil asset forfeiture laws, action on this bill is a step in the right direction.

Civil asset forfeiture laws throughout the country are in need of substantial reform in order to protect citizens’ basic rights. Asset forfeiture practice consistently tramples over the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by violating due process rights. Not only does this practice violate crucial provisions of the Bill of Rights, but it also violates Article 1, Section 11 of the Virginia Constitution which states, “That no person shall be deprived of his life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

In 2012, Mandrel Stuart was stopped by Fairfax County police and detained without charges because his SUV had tinted windows. Not only was he handcuffed, but he was stripped of $17,550 in cash. Mr. Stuart intended to use that cash for equipment and supplies for his barbecue restaurant in Staunton, Virginia. After hiring a lawyer, a jury determined in 2013 that he was entitled to his money. However, he lost his restaurant in the process due to the financial stress of the circumstances.

Monday, October 19 was an interesting day for justice reform in Virginia! I was pleased to gather with activists from the Southwest Virginia Tea Party at the Shoney's in Bristol, Virginia to talk about justice reform. We then traveled to the county courthouse for a GOP meeting where their state senator, Bill Carrico was going to address questions asked in the letters he has been receiving about civil asset forfeiture. On October 8, we had gathered to write letters to Senator Carrico.

Much of the Bill of Rights is dedicated to protecting accused persons, an action integral to our society. Expanding upon the Sixth Amendment’s granted right to legal counsel, states have put legislation in place that strictly dictates who can practice law. While such regulations aim to protect citizens, they have adverse effects and actually abridge the freedoms we hold dear.

Innocent Virginia residents are still at risk of having their property wrongfully taken through civil asset forfeiture after the Virginia Senate, on Wednesday, tabled a common sense bill that would have required a criminal conviction property believed to be connected to a crime could be forfeited to the government.