H.B. 7146: An Act Requiring a Criminal Conviction for Certain Offenses Before Assets Seized in a Lawful Arrest of Lawful Search May Be Forfeited in a Civil Proceeding

Civil asset forfeiture provides police with the power to take and keep property from someone who has not been convicted or even charged with a crime. Civil asset forfeiture incentivizes policing for profit, disproportionately harms innocent people of color, and frequently violates the Constitution. For these reasons, the ACLU of Connecticut supports banning civil asset forfeiture altogether, in favor of keeping only criminal forfeiture, which requires a criminal conviction prior to seizing forfeiture litigation in which the title to property is transferred to the state.