Civil forfeiture allows law enforcement agencies to seize and keep cash, cars, and even homes, without ever needing to convict or charge someone with a crime. To challenge these abusive laws in courtrooms and statehouses across the country, the Institute for Justice launched an “End Forfeiture” initiative in July 2014.

Many laws are in dire need of reform. As IJ found in its new report, Policing for Profit, only seven states and Washington, D.C. earned a B or better for the civil forfeiture laws. And just three states—Nebraska, New Mexico and North Carolina—have abolished civil forfeiture.

Fortunately, civil-forfeiture reform is a rare political issue that has found widespread agreement across the political spectrum. Since IJ began its initiative, there have been over 350 editorials from nearly 140 separate outlets that all support reforming—or banning—civil forfeiture. These outlets come from 40 states, plus the District of Columbia. (Updated March 10, 2020.)

Many prominent newspapers have skewered civil forfeiture in their editorials, including:

Wall Street Journal: “But for the government, the financial incentives of civil forfeiture have trumped concerns about the due process rights of citizens. The prospect of a big payday is leading to abuses, and law enforcement has profited from a system that treats citizens as guilty until they can prove their innocence.”

Washington Post: “Congress and state governments should demand that confiscated money not be used to fund police operations, and they should develop policies to limit the application of civil forfeiture to the kingpins it was supposed to target.”

USA TODAY: “Civil asset forfeiture is government at its absolute worst.”

The vast majority of Americans also support reform. Earlier this year, a poll by the Huffington Post and YouGov found that only seven percent of Americans support the status quo for civil forfeiture. By comparison, more than 70 percent of Americans think property should be forfeited only after a criminal conviction.

For more information, visit EndForfeiture.com, read IJ’s Policing for Profit report and check out our latest civil forfeiture cases.

The full list of newspaper editorials is below: