US suspends controversial asset-forfeiture program targeting airline travelers

The U.S. deputy attorney general has suspended a controversial civil asset-forfeiture program by the Drug Enforcement Administration that targeted unsuspecting airline passengers and subjected them to potentially unlawful seizures of cash from their bags. The Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, announced the suspension of the DEA's program by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a new report released on Thursday that raised grave concerns about the program and questioned whether some of the searches were conducted legally. "The DEA was not complying with its own policy on consensual encounters conducted at mass transportation facilities, resulting in personnel creating potentially significant operational and legal risks," Horowitz wrote in a memo to Monaco and Anne Milgram, the DEA administrator. Civil asset forfeiture has long been a controversial program that critics argue infringes on people's constitutional rights against unlawful search and seizure. It allows police to search and seize property from people who may be suspected of a crime, even if they are never charged. The proceeds from the seizure are typically split among the law enforcement agencies involved in the search, creating what some argue is a perverse financial incentive for federal, state and local police departments. The property owner can recover the assets only if he or she can prove the seizure was not connected to any criminal activity, creating a legal burden that is costly and time-consuming.<br/>