As the end of the 2021 legislative session ends, Alabama Arise shared an email in support of SB210. Sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, SB210 would reform the civil asset forfeiture process. Alabama Arise released the following email:
The 2021 Regular Legislative Session ends Monday, and Sen. Arthur Orr’s SB 210 hangs in the balance. This bill would significantly reform Alabama’s abusive civil asset forfeiture processes. There’s a good chance the House will consider the bill for final passage on the final day.
Alabamians deserve to have their personal property protected from seizure when they haven’t been convicted of a crime. But under civil asset forfeiture, people can lose their property, including their only vehicle or their home, without being convicted or even arrested. And law enforcement has an incentive to seize property because agencies are allowed to keep the property they take. The right to keep your possessions is vital to Alabamians’ ability to build economic security.
Orr sponsored a bill to eliminate civil asset forfeiture two years ago, but that bill was watered down to a mere reporting bill at the urging of law enforcement. And even then, state law enforcement agencies have dragged their feet on implementation and have refused to include racial demographic reporting requirements to track likely disparate use of forfeiture against Black Alabamians, as has occurred in other states. It’s time to end this abusive, unfair practice.
