Issue: Criminal Justice

On civil asset forfeiture reform, transparency is a good start – but there’s more to do

By Dev Wakeley

Civil asset forfeiture in Alabama lacks public accountability and tramples the property rights of thousands of people. Hundreds of Alabamians lose cash, cars and other property under this practice every year. Many of them are never convicted of a crime – or even charged with one. And many people can’t afford to hire a lawyer to challenge these seizures in court.

To remedy these injustices, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, introduced SB 191 this year. This bill, as revised in the Senate, will require law enforcement agencies to report information about civil asset forfeitures to a central database. It also will require an annual report about the size and scope of these seizures across our state.

The Senate passed the bill 33-0 Tuesday, and the House voted 102-0 for it Thursday. The bill now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey.

SB 191’s passage is a good step toward bringing more transparency to Alabama’s forfeiture process. But the bill falls far short of the reform that Alabama needs.

How a strong bill lost most of its best provisions

SB 191 started its journey through the Legislature as the gold standard of forfeiture reform. As introduced, it would have substantially overhauled Alabama’s forfeiture practices to fit with traditional notions of due process.

The original bill would have required a felony conviction before property became subject to forfeiture in most cases. It also would have required the state to meet a higher burden of proof in connecting property to a crime. And it would have mandated a detailed, publicly searchable database laying out the full scale of seizures in the state. The bill would have made Alabama’s forfeiture protections some of the strongest in the country.

Then law enforcement agencies that bring in millions of dollars from forfeitures sank their claws into the bill. Their interference threatened to kill reform entirely, and it led to the bill being scaled back drastically. The Senate removed all of SB 191’s substantive provisions that would have protected Alabamians from abuse and overreach.

Rep. Connie Rowe, R-Jasper, said the director of the Office of Prosecution Services wrote the substitute bill. Rowe presented SB 191 to the House Judiciary Committee, which quickly approved it Wednesday.

Real reform remains possible and badly needed

SB 191 will indeed increase transparency on civil asset forfeiture. But this small step forward is only the beginning of reform, certainly not the finish line. Civil asset forfeiture is abused routinely, and other states already have taken steps to limit or stop it. Unfortunately, Alabama lawmakers have punted on major reforms this year.

The amended bill likely will become law now that it would do little more than require data collection. But advocates must refuse to allow the database to be used as an excuse to delay changes that would rein in abuses of civil asset forfeiture.

Our government already has enough data, spread throughout various law enforcement offices, to create a comprehensive picture of forfeitures. And many of the records of those expenditures and seizures likely are subject to Alabama’s Open Records Act.

Entities that receive money from forfeitures have derailed major reforms this year and laid the groundwork to seek future delays. Even so, SB 191 will create helpful new reporting requirements to help shine a light into the murky waters of civil asset forfeiture in Alabama.

And when that data is laid out, opponents of reform will have run out of excuses. They’ll no longer have even paper-thin rationalizations for denying the truth: Civil asset forfeiture is unjust and unnecessary, and Alabama should abolish it in its current form.

Civil asset forfeiture transparency bill is a good start, but Alabamians still need much stronger protections

By Chris Sanders

The Alabama House on Thursday passed SB 191, which would increase transparency around civil asset forfeiture in the state, sending it to Gov. Kay Ivey. Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden issued the following statement in response:

“SB 191’s passage is a good first step toward bringing more transparency to Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture practices. This bill will help shine some needed light on this process, and we hope the governor signs it. But simply gathering more information about the problem isn’t enough. We must change our state’s forfeiture practices to ensure they protect due process for all Alabamians.

“Alabama’s current civil asset forfeiture practices allow too much room for abuse. Hundreds of Alabamians lose cash, cars and other property under this practice every year. Many of them are never convicted of a crime – or even charged with one. And many people can’t afford to hire a lawyer to challenge these seizures in court.

“The original version of this bill showed the path to real reform. It would have required a felony conviction before property became subject to forfeiture in most cases. It also would have required the state to meet a higher burden of proof in connecting property to a crime. And it would have mandated a detailed, publicly searchable database laying out the full scale of seizures in the state.

“These reforms are still needed, and we’ll continue to fight for them. We thank all of the Alabama Arise members and other advocates across the state who helped SB 191 win legislative approval. And we appreciate their determination to keep pushing for the comprehensive change that the people of our state need and want.”

Arise legislative recap: April 5, 2019

By Matt Okarmus

We’re excited about some early progress on civil asset forfeiture reform at the State House. Below, Arise policy analyst Dev Wakeley breaks down the benefits of SB 191, which the Senate could vote on as early as Tuesday, April 9. For more information, visit our action alerts page to contact your senator and ask them to vote YES on SB 191.

 

On civil asset forfeiture, Alabama Legislature takes initial steps toward progress

By Dev Wakeley

Alabamians deserve a legal system that respects their rights to due process. That includes not taking someone’s property without compensation unless there is clear and convincing evidence the property is linked to a crime. But under Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture practices, people can lose their possessions – without a conviction or even a criminal charge – at the hands of law enforcement agencies that stand to make money off what they take.

Abuses of civil asset forfeiture disproportionately harm people of color, as Arise’s fact sheet details. Strong public sentiment favoring reform has spurred the Legislature toward change early in this year’s regular session.

SB 191, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would make the state’s civil asset forfeiture practices more just and equitable. The bill would help protect innocent Alabamians from having their belongings taken and sold by the government. And it is moving quickly at the State House.

Walk the plank: The origins and growth of civil asset forfeiture

The original historical purpose of civil asset forfeiture was to combat piracy. In its modern form, the practice arose to help law enforcement seize the assets of international drug kingpins in cases where American laws couldn’t reach the organization’s leaders.

But today, civil asset forfeiture has grown to a far greater size and scope. When Alabama Appleseed and the Southern Poverty Law Center reviewed 1,110 civil asset forfeiture cases filed across the state in 2015, they found that the amount seized in half of them was less than $1,400. That’s more than a month’s pay for a minimum-wage worker – but far less than it would cost to hire a lawyer to challenge the seizure in court. In Alabama, civil asset forfeiture often acts as a tool to persecute people who can’t afford to fight back.

How SB 191 would promote justice

SB 191 would stop abuses of this practice. The bill would require a criminal conviction before law enforcement could seize someone’s property. Under current law, all the state must show is that property was more likely than not connected to a crime. They then can seize that property, including a household’s only vehicle, even if the owner is never charged or convicted.

Under SB 191, misdemeanor drug possession and other minor crimes would no longer allow police to take property. That’s because the bill would require a felony conviction to subject property to forfeiture.

SB 191 would provide some minor, reasonable exceptions to the conviction requirement. For example, the state still could seize property from the estate of a person who dies before conviction. Courts also could waive the conviction requirement for a defendant who receives immunity or a lighter sentence for a felony offense in exchange for testimony or assistance in an investigation. And the property of offenders who are deported or flee the state while on bail would remain subject to forfeiture as well.

Orr’s bill would provide protections to innocent people whose property is used in commission of a crime. Cases across the country have shown many law enforcement agencies are willing to take property even when owners had no involvement in or knowledge of the crime.

SB 191 also would fix two more problems of civil asset forfeiture. First, the bill would increase government accountability by publishing the disposition of seized property on a public website. Second, the bill would forbid local law enforcement to seek “adoption” of cases by federal agencies, a practice that can allow them to sidestep state protections against civil asset forfeiture.

Rapid progress amid determined opposition

SB 191 has moved quickly so far. Orr introduced the bill Tuesday, and the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved it Wednesday. The Senate debated SB 191 on Thursday but did not vote on it.

A Senate floor vote could come as soon as Tuesday, April 9. But many district attorneys, whose offices get money from forfeitures, opposed reform last year and likely will work hard against this bill.

The public overwhelmingly supports reining in the abuses of civil asset forfeiture. So call and write your state legislators to tell them that Alabama needs civil asset forfeiture reform. They need to know that the people they represent want real change now.

Court rulings aid push for reforms of civil asset forfeiture, death penalty

By Dev Wakeley

The U.S. Supreme Court sent clear signals in February that the time is ripe for reform on two of Arise’s 2019 issue priorities. In Timbs v. Indiana, the court unanimously blocked Indiana’s attempt to use civil asset forfeiture to take a car that was worth much more than the maximum fine for the crime for which the person was convicted.

And in Madison v. Alabama, a 5-3 court applied the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment to halt the execution of a man whose mental capacity had diminished during 33 years of solitary confinement.

Arise will work this year to remedy injustices in Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture system. This process allows law enforcement to take millions of dollars from Alabamians every year, often without convictions or charges. Possible reforms include requiring a criminal conviction before the forfeiture, blocking agencies from profiting from seizures, and raising the burden of proof to link property to a crime.

Arise also will keep seeking reforms of Alabama’s death penalty system, including retroactive application of the 2017 law that forbids judges to impose a death sentence when a jury recommends life without parole. Other changes include a death penalty moratorium and bans on executing people who have an intellectual disability or were minors at the time of the crime.

Ensuring basic fairness: Civil asset forfeiture reform in Alabama

By Dev Wakeley

Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures is a basic guarantee of both the U.S. and Alabama constitutions. But Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture policies allow police to seize cars, cash or other personal property without a conviction – or even a criminal charge – if they find probable cause to link the property to a crime. In most cases, owners can’t get their property back unless they then prove it wasn’t connected to a crime.

Civil asset forfeiture disproportionately harms communities of color and low-income people, who often can’t afford to challenge seizures in court. The centuries-old practice surged into common use in drug trafficking cases in the 1980s, but its reach quickly grew. Many Alabamians affected today are charged with marijuana possession or other low-level crimes.

And in many cases, the property owner isn’t charged with a crime at all. Alabama Appleseed and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reviewed 1,110 civil asset forfeiture cases filed in Alabama in 2015. In one in four of those cases, property owners weren’t charged with a crime. (The head of the Alabama District Attorneys Association said many of the seizures resulted from informants but didn’t cite a percentage.)

In half of the cases that Appleseed and SPLC reviewed, the amount of cash involved was $1,372 or less. That’s more than a month’s pay for a minimum-wage worker – but far less than it would cost to hire a lawyer to fight the seizure in court.

Solutions in other states

Every state allows asset forfeiture, but many have implemented meaningful reforms to lower the risk of unjustifiable seizures. Florida’s civil forfeiture law requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the property was involved in a crime. North Carolina requires a conviction with evidence of the property’s probable connection to crime. Fourteen states, including Georgia, make forfeiture records available to the public online. All these protections make unjust forfeitures less likely.

What Alabama can do

Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture practices need numerous changes to protect due process and ensure basic fairness. Here are a few options:

  • Require a criminal conviction to transfer property ownership.
  • Place all proceeds in the General Fund rather than letting agencies keep them.
  • Require proof beyond a reasonable doubt of the property’s connection to a crime.
  • Require judges to consider the hardship that loss of a primary residence or vehicle would cause for families or others.
  • Eliminate “abandonment” forms that can be used to urge drivers to give up their property rights during a traffic stop.
  • Award attorney fees to anyone who prevails against the government in forfeiture cases.
  • Require forfeiture records to be made publicly available online.

Alabamians deserve a fairer and more transparent civil asset forfeiture process. These reforms and others would add needed protections and help deter abuses of civil asset forfeiture in Alabama.

New hardship driver’s license rule will allow thousands of Alabamians to meet basic needs

By Dev Wakeley

A new rule could make it easier for many Alabamians to meet their basic needs. This change will allow tens of thousands of people who lost their driver’s licenses for reasons unrelated to public safety to apply for a hardship license from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). The new regulation took effect Sunday.

Some people lose their licenses just because they can’t pay court fines and fees. That inability to pay doesn’t make them a danger on the roads, but it can take a heavy toll on their lives. In Alabama, a state without reliable public transit, losing a license can erect barriers to the most basic tasks. Many people can’t get to work, the doctor, their children’s schools or even the grocery store without driving.

The creation of hardship licenses will lift those barriers for thousands of families. Eligible Alabamians who lost their licenses for administrative reasons or because of certain convictions will be able to drive to work, take their children to school and perform other essential household duties. (People convicted of DUI or other offenses that endanger public safety aren’t eligible for hardship licenses.)

After SB 55, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, became law last year, ALEA proposed a rule to implement the bill’s hardship license requirement. The initial draft left out many important protections. So Arise and other groups jumped into action, submitting comments urging numerous improvements. ALEA’s final rule includes many of Arise’s suggestions and expands hardship licenses to cover more people who need them.

Alabamians can apply for a hardship license by filling out this application. Then they can mail the application and needed attachments to the ALEA Driver License Division, Hardship License Unit, P.O. Box 1471, Montgomery AL 36102-1471. Or they can email them to Hardship.License@alea.gov.

Medicaid expansion, end to grocery tax highlight Alabama Arise’s 2019 priorities

By Chris Sanders

Medicaid expansion and legislation to end the state sales tax on groceries are among the top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2019 legislative agenda. More than 200 Arise members picked the organization’s issue priorities at its annual meeting Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Montgomery. The seven issues chosen were:

  • Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and closing corporate income tax loopholes.
  • Adequate funding for vital services like education, health care and child care, including approval of new tax revenue to protect and expand Medicaid.
  • State funding for the newly created Public Transportation Trust Fund.
  • Consumer protections to limit high-interest payday loans and auto title loans in Alabama.
  • Legislation to establish automatic universal voter registration in Alabama.
  • Reforms to Alabama’s criminal justice debt policies, including changes related to cash bail and civil asset forfeiture.
  • Reforms to Alabama’s death penalty system, including a moratorium on executions.

“Public policy barriers block the path to real opportunity and justice for far too many Alabamians,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “We’re excited to unveil our 2019 blueprint to build a more just, inclusive state and make it easier for all families to make ends meet.”

Alabama’s failure to expand Medicaid to cover adults with low wages has trapped about 300,000 people in a coverage gap, making too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to receive subsidies for Marketplace coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Expanding Medicaid would save hundreds of lives, create thousands of jobs and pump hundreds of millions of dollars a year into Alabama’s economy. Expansion also would help keep rural hospitals and clinics open across the state.

The state grocery tax is another harmful policy choice that works against Alabamians’ efforts to get ahead. Alabama is one of only three states with no sales tax break on groceries. (Mississippi and South Dakota are the others.) The grocery tax essentially acts as a tax on survival, adding hundreds of dollars a year to the cost of a basic necessity of life. The tax also is a key driver of Alabama’s upside-down tax system, which on average forces families with low and moderate incomes to pay twice as much of what they make in state and local taxes as the richest Alabamians do.

SB 55: Allowing ALEA to issue hardship driving permits makes sense for Alabama

By Dev Wakeley

Update: SB 55 is now law! Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill on March 22, following votes in the Alabama House (95-1) and Senate (26-1) to pass a conference committee version of the bill on March 15. Earlier, the House voted 88-5 for a similar version on March 1, while the Senate voted 26-1 for its own version on Feb. 1.

Suspending driver’s licenses hurts thousands of Alabamians every year. One of the greatest obstacles to employment is the lack of a driver’s license. Thousands of people in Alabama have their driver’s licenses suspended every year for convictions unrelated to driving.

These Alabamians risk losing their jobs in a nation where 90 percent of us need to drive to work. And the challenges go further: Mothers with suspended licenses cannot go buy groceries, drive to the doctor, or drop their children off at school. People undergoing addiction treatment cannot legally drive to see their sponsors to get help in preventing a relapse.

SB 55, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, would go a long way toward fixing these problems by allowing people who have had their licenses suspended or revoked, but who still need to drive, to drive on a limited basis. These Alabamians could obtain a hardship driver’s license by demonstrating to the satisfaction of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) that they are not a risk to public safety and cannot obtain other reasonable transportation.

This bill would allow people who need to take their children to school, go to the doctor, or help family members see a doctor to do so without breaking the law. SB 55 is a reasonable, common-sense response to a problem that hurts thousands of Alabamians every year.

BOTTOM LINE: SB 55 would remove unnecessary obstacles to essential participation in society for people who need to drive to work, go to the grocery store and attend to other everyday tasks. Allowing ALEA to issue limited driver’s licenses makes sense and would help tens of thousands of people throughout Alabama.

Push to block Alabama tax break for private school tuition succeeds; Ivey signs bill to create hardship driver’s licenses

By Chris Sanders

Arise members had two big reasons to celebrate Thursday, as Gov. Kay Ivey signed a pair of bills that finalize policy wins related to our organization’s 2018 issue priorities. One law will halt (at least for now) an effort to create a new state tax break for private school tuition in Alabama, while the other will help ease the transportation burden that can result from unpaid court fines and fees.

Arise members win push to stop state tax break for private school tuition

Ivey’s signing of HB 251 on Thursday marked the final step in Arise members’ sucdcessful push to save millions of dollars per year for public schools across Alabama. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ken Johnson, R-Moulton – originally would have allowed people to use education savings accounts known as 529 plans to receive a state income tax break on money used for K-12 private school tuition. But by the time the bill reached Ivey’s desk, those provisions were nowhere to be seen.

Arise members deserve an enormous share of the credit for blocking that tax break. That proposal would have turned 529 plans – originally designed to encourage long-term college savings – into vehicles to subsidize private schools at the expense of public education. The change would have cost the Education Trust Fund millions of dollars a year.

The tax break easily passed the House and appeared to be sailing toward legislative passage – until hundreds of Arise members and other advocates sounded the alarm, flooding the Senate with emails and phone calls in opposition to the plan. That pressure worked: Last week, the Senate amended HB 251 to remove the language that would have created the tax break for private school tuition. The House quickly agreed and sent the revised legislation to Ivey for her signature.

Hardship driver’s licenses could ease transportation burden for thousands

Another new law enacted Thursday stands to lift employment barriers and expand transportation access for thousands of Alabamians. SB 55, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss, R-Prattville, will allow the state to issue hardship driver’s licenses to thousands of people, including many who have had their licenses suspended or revoked for convictions unrelated to driving.

Under SB 55, those Alabamians could receive hardship driver’s licenses – allowing them to drive on a limited basis – if they can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency that they are not a risk to public safety and cannot obtain other reasonable transportation. People convicted of drunken driving or reckless driving would be ineligible for hardship licenses.

The new law could give thousands of Alabamians a legal way to drive to work, go to doctor’s appointments and fulfill other essential tasks of everyday life. And it represents an important breakthrough in Arise’s work to ease the burden of criminal justice debt on low-income families.

By Chris Sanders, communications director. Posted March 22, 2018.