Letter to the Senate -The Nomination of Loretta Lynch to the Position of Attorney General & Civil Asset Forfeiture

Alan Joel / Canada Free Press

The nomination of Loretta Lynch to the position of Attorney General is before you. Although her intelligence, experience, and poise may appear to make her a superb candidate, it is clear now that she would be an extremely poor – even dangerous — choice due to her strong position on civil asset forfeiture.

The need to safeguard civil liberties and individual rights is a priority for all Americans. Do you really want to consider confirming a person who has been proud of her record of taking property without due process…of guilty until proven innocent? She may very well bring down anyone who supports her candidacy.

Civil asset forfeiture is a particularly egregious abuse of power, allowing the government to seize property and cash if it merely suspects wrongdoing, even with no evidence and no charging of a crime.

Loretta Lynch was particularly lucrative in this regard as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Between 2011 and 2013, the forfeiture operations under her management netted more than $113 million in civil actions. Lynch’s division was among the top in the country for its collections. But this is not something to be proud of.

In one particularly appalling case, Loretta Lynch’s office seized nearly a half-million dollars from two businessman in 2012 and sat on it for more than two years without a court hearing or appearance before a judge. In fact, no crime had been committed. These men were denied due process and deprived of their assets without warning or criminal charges. Lynch suddenly returned the money just weeks ago on January 20, 2015 — on the eve of her confirmation hearings, having found no wrongdoing by the men either.

Loretta Lynch may arguably be the most successful forfeiture agent in government today

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