ATLANTA – Alda Gentile was not arrested. She was not charged with a crime. Yet police in Georgia seized $11,530 in cash that Gentile said she had in a car for a house-hunting trip in Florida.
Police confiscated the money after stopping the car, driven by her son, for speeding. They searched for drugs but found nothing.
Her case has become a rallying cry for libertarian, conservative and other groups seeking to change laws in Georgia that allow law enforcement to seize property and cash from people who have not been convicted of crimes, a process known as civil forfeiture.
Lawmakers in at least four states have proposed changing similar laws, with varying levels of intensity and success.
Those seeking to change the system say the process allows police to skirt the higher standards of proof needed in criminal trials and puts those who lose property in the position of having to prove their innocence.
“I never even thought it was anything illegal about bringing cash,” said Gentile, who got the money back after days of frantic phone calls. “They made me feel like a criminal.”
via Lawmakers seek changes for property seizure legislation | AccessNorthGa.
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