Sex Toy at Center of Michigan Civil Forfeiture Debate

Michigan is considering reforms to a civil forfeiture law that allows police to keep assets seized in drug raids, even if suspects are exonerated. (Photo by Tony Webster, via Flickr / Creative Commons)

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A Michigan woman whose vibrator was confiscated in a drug raid has become an unlikely poster child for the movement to reform forfeiture laws critics say turn cops into robbers.

Ginnifer Hency, of Smith’s Creek, has multiple sclerosis and uses medical cannabis on the advice of her neurologist to manage pain associated with the crippling disease. She and her husband, Dean – both state-registered caregivers under Michigan’s medical marijuana law – were busted last summer by the St. Clair County Drug Task Force.

Along with the usual items seized in a drug raid – six ounces of marijuana inside a locked backpack, guns, cash and cell phones – police reportedly confiscated the vibrator, the four Hency children’s electronic tablets, televisions, a ladder and other items.

Testifying last week before the Michigan House Judiciary Committee, Hency said her case illustrates the need to reform state forfeiture laws. The judge threw out the charges after finding insufficient evidence to support them, but the Hencys still can’t get their property back. The reason:

Michigan law allows police to keep seized items they believe were bought with proceeds from or used in criminal enterprise – with or without a conviction. Hency wonders what that has to do with her vibrator, and why police left behind a light ballast and other marijuana growing equipment.

“They left my (equipment) I used to grow ‘drugs’ – they left that,” she testified before the committee. “Now that is what the state forfeiture laws are made for.”

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Hency said she was “dumbfounded” by the St. Clair County prosecutor’s reported response when, cleared of charges, she asked that her family’s property be returned.

“The prosecutor came out to me and said, ‘Well, I can still beat you in civil court. I can still take your stuff,’” Hency testified. “I was at a loss. I literally just sat there dumbfounded.

“And I was just sitting there, like, thinking I was going to be able to get my stuff back, but not in this country. And that is why civil asset forfeiture in this state needs to change.”

Lingerie Hung from Ceiling Fans

Annette Shattuck, another St. Clair County medical marijuana patient, testified to the committee that when drug task force officers raided her and her husband last summer, they hung her lingerie from ceiling fans and seized $90 from her daughter’s birthday cards.

The soccer mom of four said the St. Clair County Drug Task Force showed up at her home with riot shields around the same time as the Hency raid, broke through the front door at gunpoint and “took every belonging in my house.”

According to a search warrant return, items seized included tools, bicycles, lawn and garden equipment, children’s Christmas presents, car seats, soccer equipment, driver’s licenses, insurance cards, birth certificates, several guns and other items.

Like the Hencys, the Shattucks haven’t been convicted of a crime. Also like the Hencys, they can’t get their property back. The Shattucks’ bank accounts remain frozen as well.

“We Have to Fix This”

Forfeiture law reform has broad backing, gaining support from disparate groups that rarely agree on issues.

Both the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy think the forfeiture law sanctions police overreach, state Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said during a recent forum hosted by the Mackinac Center.

“I think it speaks to the power of this argument (and) the power of the confluence of philosophies you’re getting from people on both sides of the political spectrum coming together saying, ‘This isn’t right. We have to fix this,’ “ Irwin said.

Key provisions in the proposed Michigan legislation strengthen evidentiary standards and require uniform police reporting on the disposition of confiscated items.

Decades-old civil forfeiture laws were originally intended to cripple large-scale enterprises by diverting resources to public projects, but over time, police have been motivated more by the opportunity to cushion their agencies’ bottom lines than by crime fighting, critics say.

Revenue Streams for Local Police

Lee McGrath, a lawyer for libertarian-leaning group Institute for Justice, which gave Michigan a D-minus for its forfeiture law, told policy leaders last week that Michigan is balancing its budget on the backs of suspected drug dealers.

“The real issue is the state of Michigan, like all but nine other states, has decided to let law enforcement supplement its budget with forfeiture proceeds,” McGrath said, speaking to business and policy leaders at a Mackinac policy forum, according to a report on MLive.com.

In 2013, Michigan police agencies reported $24.3 million in drug-related civil asset forfeitures.

Civil asset forfeiture laws across the country are under review as well. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder imposed new federal limits earlier this spring. Also this spring, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill making her state the first to place an outright ban on civil forfeiture.

However, the Republican governor said the catch-phrase advocates for the ban had used – “policing for profit” – impugns the motives of police officers.

“… I must make it clear that ‘policing for profit’ is an overused, oversimplified and cynical term that, in my opinion, disrespects our law enforcement officers,” Martinez said in a statement when she signed the bill.

Tell Us:

• Do you support reform to civil forfeiture laws? If so, do you support action like that taken in New Mexico – which outright bans civil forfeitures – limits on police power or some other action?