Minnesota Criminal Forfeiture

Fighting Crime While Protecting Property Rights

	Video: Ending Forfeiture Abuse: How States Can Be Tough on Crime and Respect Property Rights

In America, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.  But Minnesota’s asset forfeiture laws turn that principle on its head.  The state’s forfeiture laws say your property is guilty until you prove it innocent. Forfeiture reform would allow legislators to be tough on crime while still respecting property rights because convicted criminals will lose ill-gotten gains, while innocent people will not lose their property at the whim of a policeman and a prosecutor whose budgets benefit from the taking.  Forfeiture laws give law enforcement the wrong incentives and invite abuse.  Police and prosecutors should not be paid on commission.  We need to remove the direct profit incentive that civil forfeiture creates.

A coalition of concerned citizens, other legal organizations and the Minnesota Chapter of the Institute for Justice will work with state legislators to bring much needed reforms to Minnesota's civil forfeiture laws.