“Tennessee lawmakers are prepared to consider a major overhaul of laws that allow police to take cash off of drivers to fund their agencies. Rep. Barrett Rich’s bill would completely outlaw the practice known as civil asset forfeiture. That practice allows police to take people’s cash or property without charging them with a crime. A New Jersey man had $22,000 cash taken from him during a traffic stop. An officer took George Reby’s money based on his suspicion that it might be drug money. The Monterey police officer had a judge to sign off on the seizure in a secret hearing, but he never told the judge about Reby’s side of the story.”
