JUDGES STICK UP FOR ASSET FORFEITURE VICTIM.

• Author: Shackford, Scott
• Position: CIVIL LIBERTIES - Jermaine Sanders

POLICE IN MOORESVILLE, North Carolina, found a small amount of marijuana in a man's car and used it to justify seizing nearly $17,000 of his money. Thankfully, a state judge is raising hell over it.

In November, Jermaine Sanders was staying at a hotel in Mooresville when officers searched his car, finding what appeared to be less than half an ounce of marijuana and $16,761 in cash. The cops seized the cash and charged Sanders, who they learned had previously been convicted of felony drug charges in Connecticut, with misdemeanor drug possession.

Sanders' attorney, Ashley Cannon, submitted a motion seeking the return of her client's cash, arguing that he did not consent to the search, that the police did not provide a warrant, and that the money was not related to any criminal activity. Iredell County District Court Judge Deborah Brown agreed and ordered the city to return Sanders' money, but Mooresville officials flouted the order.

The day before Brown made her ruling, the Mooresville Police Department had sent a cashier's check for the same amount they'd taken from Sanders to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The feds had "adopted" the case, taking possession of Sanders' money.

Mooresville turned to the feds because North Carolina law requires convictions for most forfeitures and allocates the proceeds to public schools instead of the...