The legislation would replace the state's civil asset forfeiture process with a criminal process. The proposed law would require a criminal conviction before prosecutors could proceed with asset forfeiture in most cases.
The Hawaii legislature will consider three bills that would reform asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without a criminal conviction in most cases during the 2022 legislative session. But the legislation leaves a loophole open that allows police to circumvent stricter state laws by passing cases off to the feds.
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Rhode Island Committee Holds Hearing on Bill to Require Conviction for Asset Forfeiture, Opt State Out of Federal Program
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (May 25, 2021) – Yesterday, a Rhode Island Senate committee held a hearing on a bill that would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws to require a criminal conviction in most cases, and also opt the state out of a federal asset forfeiture program known as “equitable sharing.”
A coalition of five Democrats introduced Senate Bill 732 (S732) on March 26. Under the proposed law, prosecutors would not be able to move forward with asset forfeiture proceedings without first obtaining a criminal conviction in most cases. The legislation would also raise the standard of proof necessary to complete forfeiture from a preponderance of evidence to clear and convincing evidence.
Seattle police had a chance to prove abolitionists wrong. They didn’t.
The department s inability to change over the past year has shown that its problems are hardwired into policing, and reform is not working.
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Protesters face off with Seattle Police Department in Seattle s Capitol Hill neighborhood, July 25, 2020. (Matt M. McKnight/Crosscut)
Both detractors and defenders of the Seattle Police Department must reckon with this fact: since renewed calls for police accountability began after the murder of George Floyd last year, Seattle cops have been on their best behavior at least, the best that they can manage.
Already under a federal probe that began in 2012 when President Obama’s Department of Justice found the Seattle Police Department repeatedly used force unconstitutionally, Seattle police have been the center of much attention and scrutiny for the past year. In the glare of last summer’s spotlight, Seattle police did not rise to the occasion, but rather reve