On smoking gun.

• Author: Whaley, Brian
• Position: We Hear You - Letter to the editor

As a parent who happens to be a finance lawyer, I am a fan and subscriber. However, I think your Smoking Gun story on domestic spying in the April issue missed the most important information in the documents you disclosed: "to insure the program meets its goals, of which assets forfeiture is primary." Not only are these programs a breach of what should be constitutionally protected information, but their primary purpose is not even law enforcement--just like in Ferguson, the goal is revenue. All of these asset forfeiture programs can be traced back to the vile programs of the Reagan years when the "privatization" of government was the cure for all problems.

In law school, I spent a summer as an intern at my local U.S. Attorney's office and worked with the asset forfeiture attorney. While he was a very...