Gov. Rick Snyder recently signed into law a package of bills that institutes new limits on how civil asset forfeiture is conducted and reported.

The new laws increase the standard for a forfeiture from a preponderance of the evidence to the more stringent clear and convincing standard. They also require greater disclosure from law enforcement agencies about the property and profits from seizures.

The Mackinac Center was influential in supporting these reforms. MLive notes:

The reform push has brought together lawmakers and groups from various sides of the political spectrum — including conservatives, liberals and libertarians — who ultimately want to see even bigger changes.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, in a recent joint report, recommended eliminating civil asset forfeiture entirely, requiring a conviction before property could be forfeited.

The report also recommended Michigan stop allowing local law enforcement agencies to pad their own budgets through forfeiture, eliminating any profit motive by directing revenues to a separate government department.

The full article is available at MLive. Macomb Daily, the Huffington Post and Forbes also covered the story.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.