Catching up: John Oliver on asset forfeiture

I know I’m one of the last to catch up with this brilliant show from last month, which has had 3.8 million views, but if you still haven’t seen it, now’s your chance: it’s pricelessly funny and only too real. Cato has been inveighing against forfeiture laws for two decades or more and it’s tremendously satisfying to see the issue take off this year.

P.S. More forfeiture links: excellent Shaila Dewan piece in the New York Times the other day (“Put your valuables where I can see them!”), noting that police deciding to seize property sometimes check it against a department wish list; explosive videos from cop how-to-seize seminars and other government proceedings (“If in doubt…. take it”) tend to confirm a dark view [Nick Sibilla]; Institute for Justice report, Bad Apples or Bad Laws? Testing the Incentives of Civil Forfeiture [Bart J. Wilson and Michael Preciado, September]; “The IRS Has Been Holding This Guy’s $447,000 For 2 Years, And He’s Never Been Charged With A Crime” [Erin Fuchs, Business Insider, on Hirsch brothers case]

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