Here is a money quote:
On a bright, clear morning in April 2013, two professional poker players from California were heading west on Interstate 80 in rural Iowa when they were stopped by two Iowa State Troopers.
Before that stop was over, the officers had seized $100,000, which the men said was money to play poker. The troopers also called ahead to California authorities, who raided the men's homes and ultimately indicted one of them, John Newmerzhycky, on a charge of illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.If this sounds unusual and way out of the ordinary, it isn't. The seizure is just one of thousands of highway stops that state and local authorities call "interdictions:" Roadside stops aimed at catching drug dealers or even terrorists, but which can also result in cash seizures alone with no criminal charges attached.It's called Civil Asset Forfeiture, and it was started in the early 1980s by the Justice Department. It has since migrated to thousands of state and local jurisdictions nationwide. The program, when it originated, was meant to target and take money authorities believed was connected to crimes.A legal advocacy group based in Washington called the Institute for Justice has been battling Civil Asset Forfeiture for years."It violates due process for Americans," said Larry Salzman, an attorney for the group. "It's wrong. It's a simple premise that the government should not be taking money from people who have done nothing wrong. It shouldn't be taking money from people who have not been charged, let alone convicted, of any crime."
IJ is doing great work on this and many other economic liberties issues.
