LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — State lawmakers from both parties are calling for further reforms to Michigan’s civil asset forfeiture laws in the wake of a 7 Action News investigation revealing a controversial building seizure by officials in Highland Park.
State Sen. Jeff Irwin, a Democrat from Ann Arbor, and State Rep. Steven Johnson, a Republican from Wayland, both say the 2020 seizure of a 13,000 square foot building— which lasted 18 months and resulted in no criminal charges—is evidence that the law is still being abused.
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“You can’t just say, man we’re really sure they committed that crime but we can’t prove it," Rep. Johnson said. “Well, then you can’t take their stuff!”
As the 7 Investigators first reported in May, Highland Park officials offered to return the building to its owners, but only if they agreed to purchase their police department two new squad cars totaling nearly $70,000.
The owners—who produced marijuana caregiver licenses on site—declined, but the property remained in the city’s custody. Highland Park officials claimed the building was used to violate narcotics laws, but prosecutors authorized no charges.
“These tools were developed many years ago to go after the drug kingpins, Pablo Escobars of the world,” said Sen. Irwin. “But these tools have been turned against regular citizens far too often.”
What happened in Highland Park was made possible thanks to Michigan’s civil asset forfeiture laws. They allow the government take property it suspects is involved in a crime without having to charge anyone with a crime.
Whatever assets are taken can be used to help fund police departments and prosecutor's offices.
“This issue in Highland Park shows exactly why we need to keep pushing,” Rep. Johnson said.
Back in 2019, Michigan lawmakers agreed that forfeiture abuses had gone too far and passed reforms that would limit how law enforcement could use the tool.
“As long as what the government is taking from you is less than $50,000 in value, they actually have to prove you’re guilty before they take your stuff,” Sen. Irwin said.
While the new law helped clamp down on forfeiture abuses, lawmakers like Irwin and Johnson say it didn’t go far enough.
Today, if the property the government suspects is connected to a crime is worth more than $50,000—like an expensive car, your home or your building—it can still be forfeited without a criminal conviction.
“To me, that’s still wrong,” Rep. Johnson said. “You should never lose your property without your day in court.”
Even if your property is never forfeited, the government can still hold it hostage. In Highland Park, the building was seized but prosecutors wouldn’t authorize a forfeiture.
As a result, its owners were left with no recourse but to wait.
“The prosecutor’s office is required to file forfeiture proceedings promptly,” said forfeiture attorney William Maze. “Now, promptly could be six months, (and) the whole while that car or that currency or whatever it is that’s been seized is just sitting there.”
Maze is an attorney who’s specialized in civil asset forfeiture cases. While he applauds the reforms pushed through in 2019, he believes all forfeitures should require a criminal conviction to proceed.
“We really need to eliminate asset forfeiture across the board, just get rid of it," Maze said. "It’s created corruption in the county prosecutor’s office…it’s created corruption at the various police departments.”
But despite the calls for tighter controls of forfeiture laws, both Irwin and Johnson admit that today, there’s little appetite in Lansing to take up the cause.
That doesn’t mean they’ll stop fighting.
“Look, this is being abused,” Johnson said. “These are real lives that are being affected, real people who are not being given their day in court. We can’t just sit back because, politically, it’s not convenient for us. That’s our job.”
But recently, some of the 2019 forfeiture reforms have already been rolled back. As of May, people traveling with more than $20,000 at airports in Michigan can have their cash seized by police without being charged with a crime.
Airport authorities say it’s to help fight drug traffickers, but forfeiture critics say it will also take the money of innocent men and women.
The change was approved by Michigan’s legislature and signed by Governor Whitmer.
Both Johnson and Irwin voted against the new law.
Contact 7 Investigator at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
