U.S. Senator James Jefford of Vermont has introduced S. 1655, a companion Senate bill to Representative Henry Hyde's Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 1993 (H.R. 2417). S. 1655 is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee. As of August 18, H.R. 2417 had many more co-sponsors than Representative John Conyers' more comprehensive Asset Forfeiture Justice Act (H.R. 3347).

The Department of Justice is preparing to introduce its own Forfeiture Act of 1994. An analysis of DOJ's proposed bill by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers found that "under the guise of being minor and technical corrections to various forfeiture statutes", DOJ has included several "bizarre and draconian provisions" in their Act which would vastly expand the government's power to enact forfeitures.

You can help work for forfeiture reform by asking your Representative to co- sponsor H.R. 3347 and/or H.R. 2417, your two Senators to co-sponsor S. 1655, and all three of them to oppose DOJ's proposed Forfeiture Act. (See: Federal Legislation )

For more information on forfeiture laws, contact:

Forfeiture Endangers American Rights ( F. E. A. R.)
Montgomery Blair Sibley, President
1234 S. Dixie Highway #318
Miami, FL 33146
305-952-0799
[email protected]