Feb. 11 - Attorney Brad Cates on Abuses of Civil Forfeiture

The process of civil forfeiture has been used to take some $2 billion from American citizens who have never been charged with a crime, much less tried and convicted. Albuquerque attorney Brad Cates helped administer a toughened-up civil forfeiture program as a Justice Department official in the Reagan era.  But he told KSFR's Dave Marash on HERE AND THERE, he now wants to see civil forfeiture abolished. Among his reasons, the proceeds of civil forfeitures have been used by state and local police departments to buy everything from party boats and maragarita slushee machines to military equipment like machine guns and armored vehicles. For the At Noon excerpt of this interview, Click Here. For a podcast of the full episode of HERE AND THERE, Click Here.