Attorney General Sessions: Police OK to seize property of people suspected of crimes without charge [VIDEO]

The Washington Post is reporting that the Justice Department revealed (Wednesday, July 27), a new policy that was passed to allow local and state police to seize property and cash from people who have been suspected of committing a crime, even if there was no criminal charge issued. This policy is undoing a rule implemented by the Obama administration to combat police abusing their authority.

According to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department will require police to provide details to them in relation to probable cause for seizures. This is a safeguard apparently put in place to do away with the issue of police abuse that was previously documented. Also, Rosenstein noted that federal officials have to inform property owners about their rights and the status of the seizures in a more timely fashion. There are already people against the latest policy related to civil asset forfeiture, including a California Representative named Darrell Issa. The representative said in a statement, “Criminals shouldn’t be able to keep the proceeds of their crime, but innocent Americans shouldn’t lose their right to due process, or their private property rights, in order to make that happen.”