One of the causes I feel most passionate about is reform of America's notoriously unfair forfeiture laws, under which people guilty of no crime whatsoever can lose their property.
Reform isn't likely anytime soon, particularly given the funding crisis facing the U.S. government. And that makes it especially important to understand the legal tools available to fight these unjust laws.
As the Treasurer of the forfeiture reform organization Forfeiture Endangers American Rights (F.E.A.R.), I feel especially proud of this organization's latest contribution to teach attorneys and forfeiture victims about the legal tools they have available to fight back against these monstrous laws: Forfeiture 101.
Forfeiture 101 is the first in a series of F.E.A.R.'s clear, concise and informative DVD courses on substantive forfeiture law and procedure. It is a course that qualifies licensed attorneys for continuing legal education credit while educating them on the intricacies of asset forfeiture law.
Lawyers taking on their first forfeiture case find that law school never prepared them for the maze of complex proceedings that adhere to Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Maritime Claims and Asset Forfeiture Actions. To add even more complexity to the mix, some forfeiture proceedings are subject to the reforms of the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000. But others aren't.
If you're a defense attorney, Forfeiture 101 will help you expand your practice to meet the needs of the vastly increasing number of victims of the government's ever-broadening overreach for assets and money judgments.
Forfeiture victims will find this DVD to be a godsend – especially those forced to represent themselves because they can't afford counsel.
This entertaining and informative two-hour DVD serves as a crash (or refresher) course in forfeiture law, as well as an interactive computer research tool. Pop the DVD in your computer and click the menu for the chapter you need to research. As you listen to a narrative overview of the issues, you can pause at any time and note the case and statute citations that appear on the screen accompanying the narration.
Here's a rundown of the contents of Forfeiture 101:
- Chapter 1: Dangerous Misconceptions About Forfeiture
- Chapter 2: Historical Origins of Forfeiture's Quirky Procedures
- Chapter 3: The Ever-Growing Number of Forfeiture Laws
- Chapter 4: Defenses Against Forfeiture
- Chapter 5: Which Track: Civil or Criminal Forfeiture?
- Chapter 6: Civil Forfeiture: A Torturous, Treacherous Trail
- Chapter 7: A Fork in the Path: CAFRA or Customs Procedures?
- Chapter 8: An Alternate Route: Criminal Forfeiture
To learn more about Forfeiture 101, follow this link: http://www.fear.org/whatsnew.shtml.
You can purchase Forfeiture 101 before July 4 for the special price of only $100 plus $8 shipping! Or save even more with FEAR's special introductory forfeiture package deal: Forfeiture 101 DVD with the F.E.A.R. Asset Forfeiture Defense Manual, plus a one-year subscription to F.E.A.R.'s bank of legal briefings ("Brief Bank") for only $300 plus $12 shipping.
Even if you don't purchase Forfeiture 101, be sure to check out F.E.A.R.'s informative Web site at http://www.fear.org. It's a great source of hard-to-find information on civil forfeiture--and a wonderful antidote to the avalanche of pro-forfeiture propaganda on the Internet.
Comments