Quote Originally Posted by Irving View Post
Whose to blame for this behavior then? The travelers? Department of Transportation?
Who writes and interprets the laws of asset forfeiture?

It has never made sense to me but here is my best but limited explanation. Property in these cases is treated like a person who has committed a crime. It is seized and charged in court and unless the owner comes and defends their right to possess the property, it is converted into the property of the government that seized it. There are rules for how the government divides the money and how it can be used. The largest portion of the property normally is converted for the use of the agency that seized the property.

Originally the laws were established to combat large scale narcotics trafficking and organized crime. Those laws are used for all kinds of crimes now, depending on how the federal, state, and local legislatures write their asset forfeiture laws.

I understand the original intent behind asset forfeiture, however, the way it is practiced now in many jurisdictions makes my skin crawl. If you are a local sheriff with a tight budget, you don't have to tell your deputies what will happen if they don't make seizures. They know, and they will do what they need to, to keep their jobs and feed their families.

So the choices for many communities seems to be; fewer government services, higher taxes, or asset forfeiture. Our elected officials choose based on what they believe will get them re-elected (otherwise known as what the people want).

Just my $.02