Two Types Of Criminal And Criminal Forfeiture In Law Enforcement

* Two models regarding the use of illegally seized evidence are the crime control and due process models.

Often times, DEA agents seize property that was associated in drugs. Such as houses with illegal drugs or drug money, cars, land, sometimes even private jets or helicopters. (Oldenburg).

This first week the assignment was to Define crime, its relationship to the law, and the two most common models of how society determines which acts are criminal, Describe the government structure as it applies to the criminal justice system, Identify choice theories and the their assumptions in regards to crime, Describe the components of the criminal justice system and the criminal justice process, Identify the goals of the criminal justice system.

In the United States “civil forfeiture" is a legal procedure which might be brought during or after criminal accusations are recorded in the court. It is a court proceeding recorded against a property or against a person which allows law enforcement to take away cash and or property. Based on the article End of Forfeiture (2017), 87% of federal forfeitures were not criminals but civil, the government didn’t have to convict or charge anyone to take the property. Once the U.S. Lawyer's Office gets a referral from a seizing organization of a seized resource case, that office has 90 days to either document a civil legal case or incorporate the seized resource in a criminal arraignment and name it for criminal Forfeiture. On the off chance that a civil case is not documented within those 90 days, the CAFRA "capital punishment" will keep the United States from continuously recording a civil Forfeiture case. If the advantage is incorporated into a prosecution and the respondent is later vindicated or has a conviction turned around to offer, the property can't be surrendered. Thus, numerous U.S. prosecutors record a suspicious civil forfeiture activity and incorporate the property for criminal forfeiture in an arraignment (Weld, n.d, 2011.).

When a defendant is convicted of a crime, arrested, and stand trial there are multiple ways that they can defend themselves. The criminal justice system has a variety of types of criminal defenses that one should be familiar with, if ever in the position of being charged with an offense. Within this paper, I will be talking about seven different types of criminal defenses, starting with: insanity, automatism, duress, self defense, intoxication, necessity/ lesser harm, and mistake of fact.

Even though civil forfeiture is a practice that happens all around the United States, it is a system that many say the police are able to abuse for their own profit. There have been numerous cases where many individuals have been locked in legal battles with the United States government trying to prove that their assets are indeed innocent and not involved with any crimes. Many feel that the civil forfeiture is a form of “policing for profit” especially since many of the assets are used under the Equitable Sharing Program. (Crawford) police can stop motorists, possibly under the pretext of a minor traffic infraction, and "analyze" the intentions of motorists by assessing nervousness, and request permission to search the vehicle without a warrant,

In pursuit of the war on drugs, changes had been made to the nature of law enforcement and prosecution. Law enforcement have now been more empower with these new policies seem to have diminish civilians rights, such policies gave law enforcement power to violate third and fourth amendment. “Using general warrants, British soldiers were allowed to enter private homes, confiscate what they found, and often keep the bounty for themselves. The policy was reminiscent of today’s civil asset forfeiture laws.”(Balko, R, 2013) The civil asset forfeiture statute is an asset seizure of possessions that are alleged proceeds from criminal activity. Criminal activity over the decades had developed and more organized. Criminals would get their mandatory minimum sentence and the crime enterprise would just continue, but legislators’ passed a statute to dismantle entire criminal organizations and it’s known as Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations or R.I.C.O. Passed in 1970 it was used in the prosecution of Sicilian mafia in New York city. Instead of prosecuting criminals individually such as solders and capo, it was effective in shutting down entire criminal organizations. R.I.C.O statute appeared to be effective on the war on drugs. The combination of the two policies provided incentives to battle the war on drug. Assets were disseminated among various law enforcement departments, putting more officers on the streets, obtaining newer police vehicles and countless equipment for law

These two models symbolize a trial to conceptualize two different value bases that contend for precedence in the functioning of the criminal course. This is an aspect that points to there being a number of widespread differences between the two models that shall be explained. A case in point is that while crime control model seeks to offer effectual crime control, the goal of the due process model is to actually offer due justice.

Each year in the United States federal, state, and local law enforcement officials seize billions dollars of cash and property from individuals who are not, necessarily, convicted or even charged with a crime. Seizures made under these laws are called civil asset forfeiture (CAF) seizures or civil judicial forfeiture seizures. Changes in civil asset forfeiture laws have over the last 4 decades have increased the power of local governments to supplement law enforcement budgets and crack down on crime. Most police departments across the nation are able to keep, use, and sell seized property at their

This bill now requires a criminal conviction for “unlawful manufacture or cultivation of any controlled substance or its precursor” before any law enforcement agency can utilize asset forfeiture to recover the expenses of seizing, destroying, or taking any remedial action related to the controlled substance. [Health and Safety Code § 11470.1(c)]

At a time when support for the drug war has drastically declined, several media outlets are now reporting how asset forfeiture laws can lead to

I feel that it is the responsibility of law enforcement to be fully aware of search and seizure laws so that a person’s civil rights are not violated. They are always changing, and it is the responsibility of the individual officer and their department to ensure that they are current with the changes. I recently finished my annual in-service and we had a half day dedicated to search and seizure when it came to DUI laws. When an officer violates a person’s civil rights in regards search and seizure, “any evidence derived from that search or seizure will almost certainly be kept out of any criminal case against the person whose rights were violated” (FindLaw, 2017).

But no amount of propaganda can make a lie true, and examining the truth of just one tool of the war on drugs is sufficient to illustrate that it is not such a noble crusade. Civil asset forfeiture statutes allow law enforcement agencies to seize money and property without convicting, indicting or arresting the owners for any crime. Indeed, property can be seized even if the owners have been acquitted. Eighty percent of people who have property forfeited are not charged with a crime. Police are allowed to seize any assets that they claim to be involved with illicit drugs.

Source: Reprinted from The Limits of the Criminal Sanction by Herbert L. Packer, with the permission of the publishers, Stanford University Press. ( 1968 by Herbert L. Packer.

The Criminal Procedure Code, Customs & Excise Laws and several other penal statutes in India have used diction which accepts forfeiture as a kind of penalty.