Pubdate: Tue, 28 September 1999 Source: Times Union (NY) Copyright: 1999, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation Contact: Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 Fax: (518) 454-5628 Feedback: http://www.timesunion.com/react/ Website: http://www.timesunion.com/ Forum: http://www.timesunion.com/react/forums/ A BAD SEIZURE LAW Rensselaer County Legislators Should Repeal The Statute Before It Reaches Too Far Good for Rensselaer County legislator Louis Polsinello. The Rensselaer Democrat is the latest among a growing number of county lawmakers to have second thoughts about the county's civil forfeiture law enacted last October that was intended to crack down on drug dealers by seizing cash, vehicles and other personal property used in the commission of a crime. No one, least of all Mr. Polsinello, objects to cracking down on drug dealing. But like so many other tools in the war on drugs, this forfeiture law has come to mean something else. It has been used to crack down on prostitution in Troy, for example, and the county district attorney, Kenneth Bruno, had proposed using it against misdemeanor DWI cases as well. But Thomas Walsh, R-Brunswick, chairman of the Law and Public Safety Committee, is among several key Republicans who have declined to support the DWI proposal out of concern that the forfeiture law may be getting out of control. Meanwhile, the lawmakers want to see data on just how often this law has been used to catch drug dealers. All of this is welcome news. This page has long opposed the forfeiture law for several reasons. One is its inherent unfairness. That is, only vehicles that are owned outright are subject to the full force of the law. Those that have outstanding liens cannot be kept by the police. A second reason is proportionality. For example, seizing the vehicle of someone found guilty of loitering constitutes excessive punishment compared with the offense. In one case, an Albany County man has been waiting for five months to get his 1991 sedan back after his loitering conviction. There are other inequities. Because forfeiture is a civil proceeding, poor defendants do not have access to the public defender's office. Thus, they must either represent themselves in their efforts to win back their vehicles, or surrender them. Meanwhile, affluent defendants can hire top legal advice to retrieve their property. Now Mr. Polsinello and some key Republicans members of the Legislature have raised the most troubling objection of all: The forfeiture law has opened the door to uses that the lawmakers never anticipated. It is the classic case of the slippery slope. The worthy goal of cracking down on drug dealers has given police a broad new power to wield against an array of minor offenses. Mr. Walsh says he is reserving judgment on the effectiveness of the forfeiture law until he sees the data on how it has been employed since October. But he needn't wait. This law should be repealed at the first opportunity. It does not send the message to drug dealers that was intended. Instead, it sends another, more disturbing message -- namely, that due process and equal punishment under the law are at risk in Rensselaer County. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D