Justice For All - Feb 2015

The practice of asset forfeiture has been a hot topic in Washington D.C. lately, whether it has been Attorney General Eric Holder announcing the federal government will no longer take part in the equitable sharing program or the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations calling into question the entire practice of civil asset forfeiture. Because of the importance and timeliness of the issue, CPAC had a panel consisting of Pat Nolan, Derek Cohen and Darpana Sheth to discuss what is wrong with asset forfeiture and what we the people can do to fix it.

How should the punishment for convicted offenders be determined?

In November 2013, Trevor Paine was on his through Humboldt County, Nevada on his way to California when he was stopped by a deputy from local sheriff's department for driving nine miles per hour over the speed limit on I-80. The deputy who stopped him claimed that his police dog had alerted him to something in Paine's vehicle and searched it without his consent.

Prisons, when used correctly, serve an important purpose of keeping violent criminals off the street and protecting the general population. But one prison in Chicago is allegedly operating less like an instrument of law enforcement, and more like a military installation.

The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, as well as the largest prison population anywhere on Earth. With all those people locked away, one would hope that the streets would be pretty safe for the rest of us. Yet in many parts of the country, crime rates remain high, leading some to question whether putting so many people in prison is actually making us any safer.

Over 2.2 million people are currently in U.S. jails or prisons.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a lengthy record of abusing power.

Imagine this, you are moving from Michigan to California to start a new life and your dad gave you $2,500 to help you start out on your feet. While driving through Nevada you get pulled over by a deputy sheriff and he asks you how much money you have on you. You think to yourself, “that’s a strange question, but I’ve done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” so you tell the officer you have $2,500 from your dad. The officer then tells you he suspects your trip from Michigan to California is to acquire drugs with the $2,500 and so he seizes the cash, without arresting you, and tells you to go on your way. Welcome to the story of Matt Lee, welcome to civil asset forfeiture.

As one of our more than 6.9 million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and senators today and ask them to support the Smarter Sentencing Act and to co-sponsor the bill if they have not already done so. Introduced by Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in the Senate (S. 502) and by Congressmen Raúl Labrador (R-Id.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) in the House (H.R. 920), the Smarter Sentencing Act would “focus limited federal resources on the most serious offenders.”