State law should have protected Marine veteran Stephen Lara during a traffic stop outside Reno, Nevada. But officers followed different rules when they opened his trunk and found a backpack full of cash.
Looking for a payday, the Nevada State Police seized the money without arresting Lara or accusing him of a crime. The government then tried to keep the money permanently, using a trick to sidestep the Nevada legislature. A court ruling on Jan. 10 restored order.
In a win for property rights, a judge in Washoe County, Nevada, held that state police must follow state law. They cannot set aside legislative requirements just because they see a chance for profit.
This should be obvious. But law enforcement agencies from coast to coast routinely skirt their state laws in a hunt for cash. Lara’s case should put everyone on notice.
His ordeal started on Feb. 19, 2021, near the end of a cross-country journey to visit his two daughters in California. A highway patrol officer started following Lara and pulled him over when Lara passed a slow-moving tanker truck.
The officer issued no citation and complimented Lara on his driving. But the officer held Lara for more than one hour, peppering him with questions that had nothing to do with traffic safety. As body camera video shows, Lara remained polite and answered questions truthfully.
When asked, he acknowledged his cash — nearly $87,000. Carrying currency is legal, and Lara had bank receipts showing legitimate withdrawals. As he explained to the officer, he just prefers keeping his money close, so he brought his life savings with him.
This should have been fine. But the police seized the cash and left Lara on the side of the road without funds for food, lodging, or gasoline. “I just want you to know, you’re taking money out of my kids’ mouths,” he told the officers.
Next came civil forfeiture, a law enforcement maneuver that allows the government to keep seized property permanently without making an arrest, charging a crime, or securing a conviction.
Nevada allows this trampling of civil rights, but only if prosecutors can prove they have “clear and convincing” evidence linking the seized property to illegal activity. Hearings must occur in court before neutral judges, starting within 60 days after seizure.
The police ignored all of these requirements.
They shifted instead to something called “equitable sharing,” a scheme that is both cynical and premeditated. The police simply hand seized property to the U.S. government for civil forfeiture under federal law, which offers citizens fewer safeguards than Nevada law.
Once the process ends, state participants get a finder’s fee — up to 80% of the proceeds. Nevada officers keep the Drug Enforcement Administration on speed dial for this purpose.
The problem is lack of permission. The Nevada legislature never authorized equitable sharing, which renders state law meaningless. Yet the police participate anyway without regard for the lack of any enabling statute.
Their motive is clear. Nevada agencies pulled in nearly $74 million in federal kickbacks during the 20 years from 2000 to 2019. This is just one state. The national haul during the same period was $8.8 billion.
Many states invite the abuse. North Carolina, for example, bans civil forfeiture in most cases. Yet state lawmakers leave the equitable sharing loophole wide open, making themselves irrelevant.
The Obama administration tried to limit equitable sharing in 2015. But the first Trump administration reversed the reforms in 2017, and former President Joe Biden left the issue alone. A bipartisan bill in Congress would end equitable sharing once and for all. But, so far, the measure has failed to gain traction.
This leaves states to stop the gamesmanship on their own. Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Maine, Maryland, and Ohio, along with Washington, D.C., have passed anti-circumvention laws that restrict equitable sharing. But Lara had no such luck in Nevada.
He fought back on two fronts. He contested the civil forfeiture in federal court and got his money back nearly eight months after it was seized. He also sued Nevada in state court for violating his rights. Our public interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, represents him.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
His Washoe County case remains open to consider other constitutional violations, but the recent ruling adds clarity on equitable sharing. “State law enforcement agencies must be able to point to independent authority permitting them to participate in this process,” the court held.
Other states should pay attention. Law enforcement agencies cannot swear to uphold the law and then evade it.
Ben Field and Brian Morris are attorneys at the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia.