Using ill-gotten gains for good

Our View

Using ill-gotten gains for good

Here’s the scenario. You’re driving along Interstate 40, traveling at the posted speed limit, you’ve got a trunk load of high grade marijuana in the trunk and a suitcase carrying $100,000. You’re what they call the “mule” and you’re on your way to California to meet up with your contact.

All of a sudden, you see the blue lights flashing behind you and you pull over to the side and attempt to act calm and try not to arouse suspicion as the officer approaches your vehicle.

Law enforcement officers trained in interstate drug interdiction know what to look for when dealing with traffic stops on vehicles with out-of-state license plates, and in this particular case the officer’s trained drug dog picked up a scent at which time he politely asks if he could search the vehicle.

Realizing there is no way to prevent a legal search and when the trunk was opened you realize you have been caught.

Not only do police confiscate the illegal drugs but they also take the $100,000 in $100 bills as well as the expensive luxury vehicle you were driving including any other valuables.

The seized cash, vehicle and other items of value are divided up between the local police and the state, a practice that has been going on for decades. For example, Arkansas law enforcement agencies seized nearly $88 million in cash from 2010-18, about $9.7 million per year, according to data collected by the University of Central Arkansas.

That does not include the value for roughly 4,900 vehicles, at least 3,300 weapons and 1,000 other pieces of property confiscated in the span.

Some of these practices may come to a screeching halt based on the unanimous ruling by the United States Supreme Court recently that the Constitution’s prohibition on excessive fines applies to state and local governments, limiting their abilities to impose financial penalties and seize property.

The ruling will now force Arkansas prosecutors and judges to re-evaluate some civil cases filed by law enforcement authorities to keep cash and other assets seized during criminal investigations.

The interesting aspect of the ruling, according to Arkansas prosecutors, is that it appeared to be less broad than at first blush: Cash derived from drug sales and vehicles used to deliver narcotics may still be subject to state “civil asset forfeiture” laws regardless of their value.

Scott Ellington, prosecuting attorney for the Jonesborobased 2nd Judicial District said they are simply going to have to wait and see just how all this plays out but says he doesn’t think the sky is falling.

The fact remains that law enforcement officers can still confiscate cash, vehicles, weapons and other assets during criminal investigations, particularly in drug cases. Prosecutors decide whether to file civil cases allowing the state to keep that property. Those cases are then handled at the circuit court level and are subject to appeal.

For those of us who support our law enforcement efforts to rein in on illegal drug activity it is the general consensus that this is the risk these criminals take when dealing in illegal activity.

And, let’s point out that Arkansas law sends 80 percent of money from the first $250,000 of each forfeiture to local law enforcement agencies involved in the seizure and the prosecuting attorney’s office. The remainder is set aside to buy equipment at the state Crime Laboratory. Forfeited proceeds over $250,000 are sent to the state drug director to be used in drug interdiction, education, rehabilitation, drug courts and the state Crime Lab.

We would certainly think this is an excellent use of illegal drug money and property don’t you think?