[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5847 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5847

      To abolish civil asset forfeiture to the Federal Government.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 10, 2014

 Mr. Stockman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To abolish civil asset forfeiture to the Federal Government.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fifth Amendment Restoration Act of 
2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Civil asset forfeiture is the seizure of private 
        property by the government without due process of law. Law 
        enforcement officers routinely seize money, financial assets 
        and possessions simply by asserting their intuition or belief 
        that the assets or property are connected to some (often 
        unspecified) illegal activity.
            (2) The burden of proof in asset forfeiture proceedings is 
        placed entirely on the owner to prove his innocence, instead of 
        the government to prove guilt.
            (3) Seized property is often not returned, even if the 
        owner is never convicted of a crime. Property is often seized 
        without even charging owners with a crime.
            (4) Many people cannot afford to fight in court to restore 
        rightful ownership of their property.
            (5) Instead of returning property to its rightful owners, 
        police and agencies often retain seized property for their own 
        use, or sell seized property and keep the income, creating a 
        vested incentive to seize property for salaries, vehicles, and 
        perks, giving rise to the euphemism, ``policing for profit''.
            (6) Courts of justice are the proper and legal venue to 
        determine if property is stolen or used in the commission of a 
        crime, not individual police officers or public officials. 
        Stolen property should always be returned to its lawful owners, 
        and not become the property of police departments.
            (7) The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution 
        states, ``No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, 
        or property, without due process of law''.
            (8) The abolition of civil asset forfeiture restores the 
        Fifth Amendment right to not be deprived of property without 
        due process of law.

SEC. 3. ABOLITION OF CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (c), no property 
may be forfeited or seized under any civil asset forfeiture law.
    (b) Prohibition on Adoptive Seizures.--No Federal agency may 
participate in or benefit from any multiple-jurisdiction, ``equitable 
sharing'', or shared civil asset forfeiture program with any State or 
local government, nor accept or adopt property seized by a State or 
local government.
    (c) Rules of Construction.--
            (1) Contraband.--Nothing in this Act shall prohibit the 
        forfeiture or seizure of contraband, including anything 
        prohibited by law from being imported or exported, and nothing 
        in this Act shall prohibit the forfeiture or seizure of 
        anything the possession of which is a crime.
            (2) Criminal seizures.--Nothing in this Act shall prohibit 
        the forfeiture or seizure of property if the owner of that 
        property has first been convicted of a criminal offense that 
        makes the property subject to forfeiture or seizure.
    (d) Remedy for Property Not Lawfully Seized.--Property unlawfully 
seized in violation of this Act shall be restored to the owner of that 
property with all deliberate speed.
    (e) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Civil asset forfeiture law.--The term ``civil asset 
        forfeiture law'' means any provision of Federal law providing 
        for the seizure or forfeiture of property other than as a 
        sentence imposed upon conviction for a criminal offense.
            (2) Property.--The term ``property'' includes anything 
        owned by a person or entity including real property and 
        personal property including financial assets and commonly held 
        property owned by more than one person.
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