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Articles Tagged with Albuquerque

Published on: August 16, 2018

Albuquerque’s Civil Asset Forfeiture Seizures “Unconstitutional”

by Brian Silber

Back in April, I reported on the case of Arlene Harjo. When Arlene’s son drove her car while drunk, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) seized her car using a process known as civil asset forfeiture. They would not give it back even though she had committed no crime. Now, a federal judge presiding over her case has found that Albuquerque’s use of civil asset forfeiture is “unconstitutional.”

In 2015, a law was passed in New Mexico essentially banning civil asset forfeiture. This is the legal procedure where law enforcement can take an individual’s property when it is suspected of being involved in a crime. In most states, criminal charges do not need to be filed as this type of forfeiture is a civil, not a criminal, process.
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Published on: April 25, 2018

Albuquerque Ends Civil Asset Forfeiture

by Brian Silber

The city of Albuquerque has announced it will end its civil asset forfeiture program. This change comes over two years after civil asset forfeiture was essentially banned at the state level in New Mexico.

In 2016, Arlene Harjo had her 2014 Nissan Versa seized by the city of Albuquerque. She never committed a crime, nor was she even charged with one. At the time her car was seized, Arlene had lent it to her son, Tino. He was stopped and charged with drunk driving. While Arlene agreed her son should be punished if he broke the law, she did not agree she should lose her car because of it. Continue reading