Eli5:Civil Asset Forefiture
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Basically, prosecutors can take money if it’s believed to be profit from a crime, or to have been used in a criminal enterprise.
The way they do this is they literally take the money to court. They sue a stack of $100 bills.
The bar for them seizing the money is astoundingly low. They just have to argue that it’s from a crime. The money can’t defend itself, and all the owner of it can do is say “nuh uh, it’s mine legally”. Of course, it costs money to hire a lawyer to make that argument. So many people don’t even have a chance.
It’s shockingly stupid and unconstitutional.
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