New Mexico Passes Bill To Abolish Civil Asset Forfeiture

[Suzanimal]

The New Mexico state legislature passed a groundbreaking bill Saturday to abolish civil asset forfeiture.

Now Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, who will likely get attention as a potential 2016 vice presidential candidate, will have the bill on her desk.

Civil asset forfeiture is a practice where police can take and keep your property without convicting or even charging you of a crime. Then, you must go through the arduous and often unsuccessful process to get your property–whether it’s a vehicle, cash or your home–back from the police.

New Mexico police must now convict you of a crime and prove your property was used in the crime before you forfeit it to the authorities. Also, the money gained from the property will now go to the state’s general fund instead of police budgets, so that police do not have incentives to take from citizens.

The bill passed the Senate the last day of the legislative session. If the bill had not passed Saturday, it would likely not have been reexamined for 2 years because of New Mexico’s short legislative sessions.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/21/breaking-new-mexico-passes-bill-to-abolish-civil-asset-forfeiture/

 

[Henry Rogue]

The article doesn't give a good indication of whether She will sign it into law or not.

 

[Suzanimal]

The article doesn't give a good indication of whether She will sign it into law or not.

No it doesn't. I'm curious to see what action she takes. I've seen her name batted around in various articles for VP. It seems like this would be a nice feather in her cap if she has larger political ambitions. Then again, I'm sure the Police Unions are going to come down hard on her. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.