Brian Moore and Cristal Starling both lost their money to civil forfeiture, despite neither being charged with a crime. Both of them challenged those forfeitures and both of them got their money back. But only one is being made whole. We’re here with IJ senior attorneys Dan Alban and Paul Sherman to discuss two cases under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act—a law that’s supposed to protect innocent victims of wrongful forfeitures, and why it doesn’t go far enough.
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Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Woman Appeals to Get $8,000 Back After Police Seized it Without Charging Her With Any Crime
Cristal Starling runs a mobile food cart in Rochester, New York, to provide for herself and her grandnephew. She dreamed of expanding the business into a food truck, and she saved enough money to do just that. But in the fall of 2020, the local police raided her apartment and seized $8,040—the money she was going to use to pursue her dream. She was never charged with or suspected of a crime.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
When the government seizes property from people without justification, and they have to spend money to get their property back, they deserve to be made whole.
Brian Moore fought to get his property back from the federal government and he won. In 2021, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents seized $8,500 in cash from him at Atlanta’s airport…
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