Last year, a young man named Joseph Rivers took $16,000 in cash with him as he rode a train from Michigan to Los Angeles, pursuing a dream of making a music video.

The money had come from his family and his own hard work. He was carrying cash because he’d had problems in the past withdrawing large sums from out of state banks.

In Albuquerque, two agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency boarded the train and began asking passengers about where they were headed. When they got to Rivers, the only black person in his section of the train, they asked if they could search his bags.

He said yes and they found the cash. Rivers suggested they call his mom, who would back up his story. The agents did that.

Then they took his life savings, along with his dream. They said they suspected he had made the money illegally, and now, even though Rivers has not been arrested or charged with a crime, he must prove he made the money legally to get it back.

This government-authorized theft is carried out under a law called civil asset forfeiture, and although it sounds unconstitutional, it happens all the time in various places around the country.