The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is releasing a new report that details racial disparities within Alabama communities that have to hand over assets, or the asset forfeiture process. Key findings show residents in majority-Black neighborhoods were more likely to experience law enforcement seizing property.
The report, Ending Business as Usual: The Need for Alabama Civil Asset Forfeiture Data Transparency, highlights the negative impact the procedure has on Alabamians and specifically highlights evidence of racial harm in Jefferson County.
In a press release, the SPLC is demanding transparency, accountability and a solution for better practices of the policy.
“Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture process ties up Alabamians, particularly Alabamians of color, in legal webs, draining their assets and leaving them with little recourse,” said Delvin Davis, senior policy analyst for Southern Poverty Law Center in a press release.
“The civil asset forfeiture process has a devastating impact on lives. For example, if a person’s car is seized, that person can’t work, pick up their child from school and can’t do everyday tasks without finding a new form of transportation. The policy creates a snowball effect that deprives people of their livelihoods while local cities and towns enrich their budgets.”
The SPLC report calls for more data transparency in order to fully contextualize how the policy impacts and targets Black and brown communities. The organization also said data currently available to the public only scratches the surface of the overarching problem.
Some key findings include:
- In the fiscal year 2023, $4.6 million (49.6% of the total amount of cash seized) has been forfeited to the state, but only $96,338 (1%) was awarded back to defendants.
- Cash seizures in Alabama have decreased by 17.5% from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2023. However, judicial circuits with significant Black populations saw an increase of cash seizures by 42.6% during the same period.
- In Jefferson County, residents in majority-Black neighborhoods were more likely to experience a civil asset forfeiture in fiscal year 2023.
“While the numbers available paint a dire picture, there is hope. Leaders from both political parties in Alabama are calling for an evaluation of the policy," Davis explained in the press release.
"However, that would require disaggregated data on civil asset forfeitures to be made publicly accessible. It is up to us to hold our state accountable and push back against a policy that harms more than helps,”
Read the full report on Ending Business as Usual: The Need for Alabama Civil Asset Forfeiture Data Transparency, click here.
