Forfeiture Reform -- Your Chance is Now
Update on Property Seizure Bill in U.S. Senate
As you may know, "forfeiture reform" legislation has passed in the U. S. House of Representatives (H.R. 1658) and is now pending in the U. S. Seuate (S. 1931).
The Senate Judiciary Committee has been considering this bill. They have postponed their vote on the bill, twice. This makes it extremely likely that they really will vote on it on Thursday, March 9, as their revised schedule demands.
The new delay is a good sign -- it means that Committee members are negotiating with the Clinton administration on specific details of the legislation. It is being taken very seriously.
Since a bill has already passed in the House of Representatives, if the Judiciary Committee approves the bill it is very likely to pass in the full Senate without much fanfare. So the key vote is coming up on March 9, among the Judiciary Committee members.
How do you feel about reforming the forfeiture laws? Current law allows federal agents to take your property without couvicting you of -- or even charging you with -- a crime.
For some additional background, look at these two editorials by Fred Foldvary.
Reforming the Forfeiture Laws and
Asset Forfeiture
If you want to influence bill S. 1931, we strongly recommend that you visit the Forfeiture web site, where they make it easy for you to do so.
We urge you to speak up on this issue, no matter what your opinion is.
The folks at the forfeiture.org web site believe that these Senators who are on the Judiciary Committee have not yet decided how they will vote. In other words, these are the "key" people who will decide on this bill:
Spencer Abraham (R-Michigan) .... 202-224-4822 / fax 202-224-8834 John Ashcroft (R-Missouri) ...... 202-224-6154 / fax 202-228-0998 Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) ............ 202-224-2315 / fax 202-224-6519 Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin) ......... 202-224-5653 / fax 202-224-9787 Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) ............. 202-224-4521 / fax 202-228-1239 Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) .. 202-224-4254 / fax 202-228-1229 Robert Torricelli (D-New Jersey) 202-224-3224 / fax 202-224-8567
What's your opinion on bill S. 1931? We hope you'll tell your views to The Progress Report but not till you have communicated with a Senator! Once you have done that, add your opinion here:
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