New York
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State Law Evasion Grade | Final Grade |
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New York
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Forfeiture Law |
| New York law provides some protection for property owners caught up in civil forfeiture, but the state’s law enforcement agencies are among the nation’s most aggressive in pursuing equitable sharing with the federal government. Under New York civil forfeiture law, the government’s standard of proof to conduct a forfeiture depends on the property being pursued. For real property that was used as an instrumentality of the crime, the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the property is related to the crime and can be forfeited. For other property, the government only needs to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the assets were the instrumentality or proceeds of the crime. Moreover, the property owner bears the burden in innocent owner claims. Law enforcement may keep up to 60 percent of the proceeds seized. The state received more than $237 million through equitable sharing between 2000 and 2008.Although New York “reformed” its asset forfeiture regime in 1990, it actually further encroached on the property rights of its citizens as a result of the reform. For example, money located near controlled substances is now presumptively forfeitable—in effect, presumed guilty. The property owner has a significant burden placed on him to overcome this presumption. |
| Forfeitures as Reported to LEMAS (Drug-related only) |
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| Equitable Sharing Proceeds from the Assets Forfeiture Fund (AFF) |
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| Freedom of Information Data |
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1990-2002: Reports of forfeitures from district attorneys and task forces;
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