密歇根新闻广播 限制对公民财产的没收权

In Michigan, police can seize your property if they believe it's involved in a crime. And they can auction¹ it off before you're convicted of anything. Actually, before you're even charged with a crime. Critics have been trying to outlaw² that practice for years. With new bills passed in the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives, they're closer than they've ever been to making that happen.

Laurie Snyder lives in a small town north of Grand Rapids. She and her fiance are just moving into a house that they're fixing up. Her five cats are settled in already. Things are looking up for them after a tough couple of years.

In 2013, police raided Snyder's home. At the time, she was a medical marijuana caregiver. She grew plants for herself and three other patients. She had never been in any kind of trouble with the law before.

The raid left her stunned³. I just was blown away that the police--it was like, it was like they came in and robbed me and said, have a great day and left. And I was like, what just happened? Snyder says.

They took her car. Her plants. Her grow equipment…and seventy-two dollars from her purse.

Within weeks, her property was cleared for auction--before charges were even filed.

It's a practice called civil asset forfeiture⁴. And it's a regular source of funding for law enforcement. Civil asset forfeiture laws were put in place to target drug kingpins by attacking their finances. But there's a growing out cry from Michigan citizens who say police abuse the system for profit.

Snyder lives on disability checks. She couldn't afford the 500 dollar bond to fight the forfeiture. So her property was sold.

Friends pooled their money to hire a lawyer for her, and the charges were dismissed. But that didn't get her car back.

Snyder says, I wanna say it took me close to seven months to save up the money to buy another vehicle of my own. Part of that was because during that time I had to pay other people to come pick me up take me to the grocery store to run my errands. So yeah it set me back.

Senator Peter Lucido (R-8) has been a vocal⁵ critic of civil asset forfeiture ever since he was a public defender⁶ thirty years ago. His bill that would make police wait until they get a conviction to begin the forfeiture process. That's where seized property is legally transferred into police ownership. Basically it's to go ahead and level the playing field and make it fair again. No property right should be diminished as a result of police officers taking. And no one should lose their property until convicted beyond a reasonable doubt, says Lucido.

The new law would apply to assets worth less than fifty thousand dollars.

Senate and House versions of civil forfeiture reform have enjoyed strong bipartisan support. And a timely US Supreme⁷ Court decision is stirring up enthusiasm. The court ruled that large civil forfeitures⁸ may violate the constitution.

There's still some opposition⁹. Police groups and prosecuting¹⁰ attorneys have come out against it. Robert Stevenson is with the Michigan Association of Police Chiefs. He says the new limits on civil asset forfeiture will take away an important tool that allows them to clean up neighborhoods by seizing drug traffickers' revenue streams. Ultimately, it'll be the citizens that feel the negative impact of this when we can't do the enforcement actions that we used to do to keep their neighborhoods safe, Stevenson says.

Some reforms have been implemented¹¹ since Laurie Snyder's raid. People no longer have to pay a bond to challenge a seizure¹². And police are required to document their forfeitures.

But cases like Snyder's keep happening. Since 2017, there were about 200 instances where the government kept someone's property even after they were found not guilty. And there were more than 700 cases where the government kept property without ever charging anyone with a crime. That’s according to data obtained by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

After her charges were dismissed, Snyder tried to find a way to get back what the police took from her. All the lawyers she contacted said it would cost more to sue the police than her property was worth. Snyder says, I'm really happy that our legislature now is looking at changing that, because it does really need to be changed. She hopes that reforming the law will protect others from losing property like she did.

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

3 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

4 forfeiture   

n.（名誉等）丧失

参考例句：

• Both face maximum forfeitures of about $1.2 million.双方都面临最高120万美元左右的罚金。
• If he should break his day,what should I gain by the exaction of the forfeiture?如果他到期不还我从这罚金中又能得到什么好处？

5 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

6 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 forfeitures   

n.（财产等的）没收，（权利、名誉等的）丧失( forfeiture的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Both face maximum forfeitures of about $1.2 million. 双方都面临最高120万美元左右的罚金。 来自辞典例句
• These statutes often make the contracts void andthe parties involved to various penalties and forfeitures. 这些法规通常导致合同无效，并且给予涉案当事人各种处罚或者没收财物。 来自互联网

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

11 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

12 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。