New Mexico is First State in the Nation to Ban Civil Asset Forfeiture by Police

Civil liberties advocates around the country celebrated after New Mexico passed a law that banned the police from taking the property of people who have not been convicted of any crime, a practice known as civil asset forfeiture.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez signed House Bill 560 into law. It is the first law of its kind in the United States, and comes a few months after the Department of Justice issued new guidelines to federal law enforcement about the controversial practice. People do not even have be charged with a crime, let alone convicted, for the police to seize assets like cars, houses, and cash.

A number of police departments and unions wrote to the governor asking her to veto the legislation. Civil asset forfeitures make up a growing share of police budgets across the country. It has been reported that some departments even kept wishlists of goods they would like to seize.

The new Department of Justice guidelines forbid the practice of civil asset seizure unless public safety was imminently threatened. The Justice Department said that goods seized in civil asset forfeiture should be limited to firearms, ammunition, explosives, and child pornography.

Civil asset forfeiture is particularly onerous because of how difficult it is to get back money the police have taken. In order to get the money back, the victim must prove the lawful origin of every single penny that was taken. That is an incredibly difficult and expensive task, so most people who have their property taken by the police do not try to get it back because they do not have the time or money to do so.