>The whole program seems to be a way for the Feds to encourage local police to follow federal priorities rather than local priorities and sadly I'm sure the current attorney general will be looking for ways to do more of that.
Yes, exactly; I'm guessing today's article below is what prompted the OP to post the article they did.
"In 2015, Eric Holder's Justice Department issued a memo sharply curtailing a particular type of forfeiture practice that allowed local police to share part of their forfeiture proceeds with federal authorities. Known as “adoptive” forfeiture, it allowed state and local authorities to sidestep sometimes stricter state laws, processing forfeiture cases under the more permissive federal statute.
...
In his speech Monday, Attorney General Sessions appeared to specifically call out adoptive forfeitures as an area for potential expansion. “Adoptive forfeitures are appropriate,” he said, “as is sharing with our partners.”"
This is after 20 years of them coming after assets of accused drug traffickers, just to note. Since the dawn of the Reagan-era forfeiture practices, federal and local authorities have been seizing cash, houses, automobiles and any other assets they can get their hands on, not only pre-conviction, often without even an arrest!
Civil Asset Forfeiture has nothing to do with Trump. This outright theft of money and other assets during traffic stops has been going on for years. It was originally enacted to help deal with gangs and drug dealers who tend not to use banks for obvious reasons. This would allow law enforcement to seize the cash, drugs, cars, etc. to help suppress their illegal operations by confiscating their capital and equipment/vehicles.
It has since been perverted into the kind of travesty this article details. Personally, I don't even support Civil Asset Forfeiture on any level because it seems to violate every notion of property rights as well as some basic human rights that we supposedly believe here in America.
EDIT: my reference to Trump was in regards to OP's reference, which has now been edited out.
Now let's get some further federal protections at all levels restricting property theft by the police (aka "asset forfeiture"; I suppose when a cop murders you they might prefer to call it life forfeiture).
“We hope to issue this week a new directive on asset forfeiture — especially for drug traffickers,” Sessions
reply