And that is functionally the difference between "civil" asset forfeiture and "criminal" asset forfeiture. To be sure even criminal asset forfeiture can be abused, but it is significantly more difficult, and you have to be convicted first.
And at some level criminal asset forfeiture is a just response because without it you create perverse incentives (a white collar crime that nets you 100 million and 5 years in jail, is a very good exchange of time for money if there is no forfeiture to take the "ill gotten gains.")
What I'd like to know is if NM is the first state to ban civil AF? I'm happy to be a NM resident today, but I wonder if we are a aberration?
Not to over simplify, but liberals tend to favor limits on police power, and conservatives tend to be split between the so-called "law and order" conservatives who want power the police and harsh sentences, and the libertarian conservatives who want strong limits on police powers. NM tends to have a lot more libertarian conservatives than a lot of other parts of the country making us a good location for this law.
And at some level criminal asset forfeiture is a just response because without it you create perverse incentives (a white collar crime that nets you 100 million and 5 years in jail, is a very good exchange of time for money if there is no forfeiture to take the "ill gotten gains.")
What I'd like to know is if NM is the first state to ban civil AF? I'm happy to be a NM resident today, but I wonder if we are a aberration?
Not to over simplify, but liberals tend to favor limits on police power, and conservatives tend to be split between the so-called "law and order" conservatives who want power the police and harsh sentences, and the libertarian conservatives who want strong limits on police powers. NM tends to have a lot more libertarian conservatives than a lot of other parts of the country making us a good location for this law.