(Harrisburg) – Today, the Senate of Pennsylvania overwhelmingly passed Senator Mike Folmer (R-48) and Senator Joe Scarnati’s (R-25) Senate Bill 8, to reform Pennsylvania’s Asset Forfeiture Law.
“Senate Bill 8 makes significant and unprecedented asset forfeiture reforms,” Senator Folmer said. “This is a first step towards smarter forfeiture practices and to provide at least some level of due process for property owners.”
Key Reforms in SB 8 Include:
- Higher burdens of proof imposed on the Commonwealth.
- Protections for third party owners by placing additional burdens of proof on the Commonwealth.
- Improved transparency in auditing and reporting at both the county and state levels.
- Specific and additional protection in real property cases by prohibiting the pre-forfeiture seizure of real property without a hearing.
- Additional procedural protections for property owners, such as returning property to the forfeiture proceeding if there is undue hardship, and an extra level of protection for anyone acquitted of a related crime who is trying to get their property back.
“Today the Senate has advanced Senate Bill 8, which will take a positive step forward to increase transparency of how forfeited funds are used, as well as raising the burden of proof required to seize assets,” Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati said. “I am pleased to work with Senator Folmer on this issue, and hope that our colleagues in the House of Representatives will take up this important legislation in the near future.”
“I thank my Senate leadership for helping this important legislation move forward, as well as all the groups who worked tirelessly on these reforms,” Folmer said.
Meanwile, the ACLU says the bill doesn’t go far enough. The civil liberties advocacy group said that the bill leaves in place many of the most egregious provisions of forfeiture law, including provisions that allow the government to take and keep property from people who have not been convicted of a crime.
“Civil asset forfeiture has been misused and abused by law enforcement in Pennsylvania,” said Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “The state Senate had a great opportunity to truly reform forfeiture. But it failed.”
The legislation, Senate Bill 8, also leaves in place the process of allocating revenue generated from forfeiture directly to the agencies that make decisions about what property to seize. Critics have referred to this incentive structure as “policing for profit.”
The ACLU of Pennsylvania also criticized the lack of a guarantee of counsel for people who are in forfeiture proceedings. Because forfeiture occurs through a civil proceeding, rather than as part of a criminal prosecution, property owners do not have a constitutional right to legal representation.
“A model reform bill would connect forfeiture to criminal proceedings, requiring a conviction of the person who owns the property and guaranteeing them a right to a lawyer,” said Elizabeth Randol, legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “If this bill becomes law, people will still face the loss of their property without the assistance of an attorney.”
Civil asset forfeiture has become so controversial that every candidate for district attorney in Philadelphia who attended a community forum last week committed to only pursuing forfeiture after securing a criminal conviction.
In 2015, the ACLU of Pennsylvania analyzed forfeiture practices in three counties: Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Cumberland. In every county, significant numbers of people lost property without being convicted of a crime, and forfeiture was used disproportionately against African Americans.
Molly Tack-Hooper, staff attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said that the research findings were “troubling” and demonstrated the need for meaningful forfeiture reform, beyond the transparency measures passed by the Senate today.
“Pennsylvania has been in a national spotlight for the abusive forfeiture practices that have thrived under laws that remain on the books today,” Tack-Hooper said. “While there is nothing wrong with more transparency, we already know the problems with forfeiture. And the legislature needs to fix them.”
Senate Bill 8 now heads to the state House of Representatives for its consideration.
SOURCES: Senator Folmer and ACLU
