RE: Rotterdam confiscates expensive clothes from youth without cash
January 9, 2018 at 2:43 pm
(This post was last modified: January 9, 2018 at 2:45 pm by Jackalope.)
(January 9, 2018 at 2:39 pm)RoadRunner79 Wrote: I can understand somewhat taking the stuff (say bought from all the money they made illegally). I don't think I realized they could do it, before any type of guilty verdict? What do they do if they are not found guilty (or is that a whole separate process)?
In the US they don't even have to be charged with a crime. The forfeiture does go through the courts - with in rem jurisdiction (i.e. the property in question as the "defendant").
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_rem_jurisdiction
Quote:The use of this kind of jurisdiction in asset forfeiture cases is controversial because it has been increasingly used in situations where the party in possession is known, which by historical common law standards would make him the presumptive owner, and yet the prosecution and court presumes he is not the owner and proceeds accordingly. This kind of process has been used to seize large sums of cash from persons who are presumed to have obtained the money unlawfully because of the large amount, often in situations where the person could prove he was in lawful possession of it, but was forced to spend more on legal fees to do so than the amount of money forfeited.[2]
emphasis mine.
