Something actually positive from Eric Holder's Justice Dept.? Civil forfeiture restrictions on state/local police

It's not a complete restriction, but it sounds like it will significantly limit such practices as seizing cash and non-weapon assets, and placing the proceeds in police department coffers, to spend on humvees and stingrays and whatever. I wonder what induced the benighted Justice Department to take such an apparently enlightened step? Many states have their own forfeiture programs, but most of them place the proceeds in the state general funds, not in the hands of the police departments, unlike the Federal law.

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Local and state police can’t use federal law to seize assets anymore
Civil forfeiture has fueled billions for cops to spend on surveillance and more.
by Megan Geuss - Jan 16 2015

Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday that the Department of Justice would be putting a stop to local and state police participation in a federal asset seizure program called “Equitable Sharing.”

The program has allowed local and state police to seize assets—usually cash and vehicles—without evidence of a crime. If the former owner of the seized property fails to make a case for the return of his or her property, the local and state police were allowed to keep up to 80 percent of the assets, with the remaining portion returning to federal agencies.

"This is a significant advancement to reform a practice that is a clear violation of due process that is often used to disproportionately target communities of color," Laura Murph, the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington legislative office director told Ars in a statement.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation also did its own research into how much of the federal asset forfeiture funds were going back into surveillance and wiretapping, finding that California spent $13.6 million on spying.

“Holder’s announcement could have a significant impact on how law enforcement agencies fund electronic surveillance,” Dave Maas, an EFF spokesman, told Ars. “However, it’s important to remember that the next administration’s attorney general could easily reverse this policy decision. Further, many states also have their own asset forfeiture programs, so a whole second layer of funding remains on the state level.”

The Washington Post reports that since 2008, local and state police departments have seized approximately $3 billion in assets from 55,000 seizures around the country. In an earlier article published by the paper, government documents detailed that police departments spent their share of that money on “Humvees, automatic weapons, gas grenades, night-vision scopes and sniper gear,” and “electronic surveillance equipment” as well as less high-tech items like coffee makers, “challenge coin” medallions, and clown appearances (“to improve community relations”).

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http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/01/local-and-state-police-cant-use-federal-law-to-seize-assets-anymore/