END CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE!

Civil asset forfeiture enables law enforcement to seize property after claiming that they suspect it connected to a crime, even when no criminal case has been filed.  You have to prove you are innocent to get your property back.  Many times the cost of an attorney to pursue the case costs more than the value of the property stolen by law enforcement.

This is highway robbery.  And it is unconstitutional.  It is un-American and un-Texan.  It needs to end immediately.

I have testified in favor of ending civil asset forfeiture in the past, and will work to end it in the future.

By the way, I was saddened to see the heads of a number of law enforcement agencies show up to testify to keep this outrageous highway robbery.  They claim that we should trust them, and that they would never take property from an innocent person.  This argument is laughable.

I respect and support law enforcement against the Marxist attacks on them and their legitimacy.  If we are to improve relations between law enforcement and the public, we must stop this alienating practice guaranteed to drive a wedge between the public and law enforcement.

The law enforcement agencies get to keep the property they seize.  There is a built-in incentive for law enforcement to lie to gain more goodies with this practice.  We should not be setting up a system that tempts our law enforcement into corruption.