New Mexico’s Republican governor just ended civil forfeiture in her state
http://t.co/WvJHYXUUFi
— Red Alert Politics (@RedAlert) April 11, 2015An exciting development in criminal justice reform: New Mexico’s Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has signed a bill that essentially ends the practice of civil forfeiture in her state. Cops will no longer be able to seize property merely on the suspicion of a crime.
The bill would require that residents be convicted of a crime before police seize their property, and would also funnel all seizure profits into the state’s general fund. This will block police departments from using seizures to pad their budgets, and precludes them from using the popular federal Equitable Sharing Program, which allows them to pass cases of to the Justice Department while pocketing the profits.
