New Orleans shoe shiner who had his life savings seized by DEA agents wins legal battle to have his money returned

 

In November 2020, Drug Enforcement Administration agents at the Columbus, Ohio, airport seized nearly $30,000 from Kermit Warren on the suspicion that the funds were connected to drugs - depriving the out-of-work New Orleans shoe shiner of his entire life savings.

Warren was carrying the large amount of cash in hopes of purchasing a tow truck, but the purchase had fallen through, and when the grandfather failed to provide suitable answers to officials' questions about the money, authorities stripped him of the cash completely, even though he was not charged with a crime.

Now, after nearly a year of financial hardship and legal woes, Warren is finally getting his money back.

The government agreed this week to return the funds and dismiss the civil forfeiture case against Warren, according to the Institute for Justice, a non-profit law firm that was representing Warren. NBC News obtained a settlement agreement confirming the dismissal.

"It gives me a great amount of joy and peace," Warren told the outlet. "What happened to me should never happen to anybody in this world."

Warren lost his money through a process called civil asset forfeiture, which allows the federal government to take people's property, even without charging them with a crime, if they believe the funds are connected to criminal activity. According to NBC, authorities strip thousands of people of their money each year...MORE

 

This civil asset forfeiture program has been ripe with abuse.

For the most part, it is used by local law enforcement to pad their annual budgets, and thereby providing an incentive to confiscate individuals' private property. This has resulted in law enforcement taking more property from individuals than burglars.

And we aren't talking peanuts here. From 2008 to 2016:

...thousands of police agencies across the country made more than 55,000 seizures of cash and property worth $3 billion under the program, which allowed local and state police to make seizures and then share the proceeds with federal agencies. to main content

Some don't realize that civil asset forfeiture has been around from the beginning. It is based upon British admiralty and maritime law which was adopted by our Founders. The first congress passed such a law, which was aimed at collecting tariffs and taxes.

There is one big difference, though, in how government administers the program. Our Founders felt obligated to remit the funds to innocent parties, so 90 percent of the funds were returned to individuals. When it comes to the current editions of the feds, 81 percent of the property is confiscated from citizens never charged with a crime, and you have to sue the government to get your property back.

What an indicative comparison of Then and Now.

Then they felt obligated to return the property to the rightful owner.

Now you have to sue to get your property back.

What we Were to what we have Become.