Property owners in Maine have reason to celebrate this week: On Tuesday, the state legislature passed a sweeping, bipartisan bill repealing the state’s civil forfeiture laws. IJ was integral to this reform. We convinced the author to change strategy, re-wrote the bill, and testified on its behalf.

Before this reform, Maine law enforcement agencies forfeited millions of dollars from property owners with civil forfeiture practices so lacking in transparency and accountability that the state earned three “F”s and two “D”s in our latest edition of Policing for Profit. The state also allowed law enforcement to partner with the federal government using “equitable sharing” to forfeit and keep even more property than allowed by state law.

Now, Maine joins Nebraska, New Mexico, and North Carolina in ending one of the most serious assaults on due process and private property rights in America today. The new legislation:

• Repeals Maine’s civil forfeiture laws but retains the state’s criminal forfeiture process. Only in a few narrow exceptions—death, deportation, or if the defendant fled or abandoned the property—may law enforcement forfeit property without a conviction;

• Creates a new, prompt post-seizure hearing to strengthen due process;

• Bolsters transparency by requiring forfeiture reports to be publicly accessible on the Department of Public Safety’s website; and

• Closes the “equitable sharing” loophole.

This victory ensures that only people who have been convicted of a crime—not innocent Mainers—lose their property to forfeiture. We look forward to building on this success and keeping you apprised as we push to end civil forfeiture nationwide.

Scott

Scott G. Bullock
President and General Counsel
Institute for Justice

Donate Today