Not Drug Money, Just Christian Cash for Orphans

We’ve previously noted how the practice of civil asset forfeiture needs serious reform because it’s little more than an unconstitutional windfall for law enforcement. Jason Snead of the Heritage Foundation defines forfeiture as “a policy that enables law enforcement authorities to seize property or currency if they suspect it is involved in, or is the result of, a crime.” With that, we now offer the latest entry in the annals of “justice.”

A 40-year-old Texas man was pulled over in Oklahoma for driving with a busted tail light. Police dogs alerted deputies to a stash of cash (which often bears trace amounts of drugs), so law enforcement escorted the man to the station for further questioning. The man, a refugee from Burma who became a U.S. citizen more than a decade ago, speaks English as a second language, so communication with the deputies wasn’t always clear, but officers found no evidence of any crime — except the mere possession of $53,249 in cash. So they took all of it, marking the receipt “Possession of drug proceeds.” They then let him go, busted tail light and all, though five weeks later, he was finally charged with a felony: “acquir[ing] proceeds from drug activity.”

The worst part is that the cash was earned by a Christian band, of which the Texas man was a part, and the majority of it was earmarked for a religious college in Burma and an orphanage in Thailand. No drugs, just music and charity.

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