Post by Logan on Jan 19, 2016 20:59:58 GMT -6
Maryland Democratic, Republican lawmakers back bill to further curb asset seizures
As a veto override vote looms on a bill to restrict police and prosecutorial powers to seize assets, some Republicans and Democrats are calling for legislation that goes ever further.
At a news conference Tuesday in Annapolis, advocates charged that law enforcement officers all too often "rob" citizens of cash and other assets when they suspect them of being involved in drug activity.
Sen. Michael J. Hough, one of the Maryland Senate's most conservative Republicans, has joined forces with Sen. Jamie Raskin, one of its most liberal Democrats, to sponsor legislation clamping down on asset seizures.
The legislation goes further than a bill sponsored by Raskin last year that passed the General Assembly before being vetoed by Gov. Larry Hogan at the behest of police chiefs and prosecutors. Instead of just putting the burden of proof on prosecutors to show that assets are tainted, as last year's bill did, the new measure requires that they convict the person whose cash or other property is seized before they can seek forfeiture.
Continued at www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-asset-forfeiture-20160119-story.html .
As a veto override vote looms on a bill to restrict police and prosecutorial powers to seize assets, some Republicans and Democrats are calling for legislation that goes ever further.
At a news conference Tuesday in Annapolis, advocates charged that law enforcement officers all too often "rob" citizens of cash and other assets when they suspect them of being involved in drug activity.
Sen. Michael J. Hough, one of the Maryland Senate's most conservative Republicans, has joined forces with Sen. Jamie Raskin, one of its most liberal Democrats, to sponsor legislation clamping down on asset seizures.
The legislation goes further than a bill sponsored by Raskin last year that passed the General Assembly before being vetoed by Gov. Larry Hogan at the behest of police chiefs and prosecutors. Instead of just putting the burden of proof on prosecutors to show that assets are tainted, as last year's bill did, the new measure requires that they convict the person whose cash or other property is seized before they can seek forfeiture.
Continued at www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-asset-forfeiture-20160119-story.html .