AG Nominee Loretta Lynch Says Civil Asset Forfeiture ‘Protections Are There.’ Not When Her Office Ignores Them.
Long Island business had nearly half a million seized for more than two years without any court filing.
Scott Shackford|Jan. 29, 2015 12:15 pm
U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, nominated to replace Eric Holder as attorney general, sat before the Senate’s Judiciary Committee to be asked questions (or sit through speeches from senators only vaguely approaching the concept of a question) about President Barack Obama’s use of executive authority on immigration, waterboarding, prosecuting terrorists, marijuana legalization, Operation Chokepoint, gay marriage recognition, and a number of other issues. The hearings and speeches continue today.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) yesterday brought up asset forfeiture to gauge Lynch’s position. He wanted to know whether Lynch thought the way the Department of Justice in partnership with local law enforcement agencies handle criminal and more particularly civil asset forfeiture was “fair.”
Lynch responded that “civil and criminal forfeiture are very important tools of the Department of Justice as well as our state and local counterparts.” Speaking directly about civil asset forfeiture, she claimed that such forfeiture is “done pursuant to supervision by a court, it is done pursuant to court order, and I believe the protections are there.”
That would come as news to the three brothers of the Hirsch family in Long Island. In 2012, they saw $447,000 of their assets seized by the IRS and the Department of Justice over an allegation that their business Bi-County Distributors, which delivers snack foods to convenience stores, was deliberately depositing cash deposits in amounts smaller than $10,000 in order to avoid IRS reporting requirements.
https://reason.com/blog/2015/01/29/ag-nominee-loretta-lynch-says-civil-asse
