Ethics

Ewing on Civil Forfeiture Laws

By Ed Brayton

Bob Ewing of the Institute for Justice has a compelling op-ed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer about the Hicks case and the scandal of civil forfeiture laws in this country. The Hicks case, you may recall, involved Luther Hicks of Lima, Ohio, who had his entire life savings - more than $400,000 - seized by the police after they found a small amount of marijuana in his house after responding to a break-in.

The Hicks' home was broken in to and Luther shot the burglar. The police did not charge Hicks because he acted in self-defense. But they found a small amount of pot in the house, which Luther uses to ease the pain of arthritis (not even enough to charge him with possession). They also found their life savings in a safe in the home; they keep it there because they don't trust banks. But the mere presence of a tiny amount of pot allowed them to seize all of that money under civil forfeiture laws. Ewing writes:

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on March 25, 2008 (boomark / email).