Government

Nice Bankroll You Got There. Be A Shame If You Had The Right To Remain Silent.

Hopefully the police would at least give you a couple of frequent flyer miles.

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AirportDoubloons. Ducats. Dollars. I’m happy to have it whatever form it shows up in. That said, given the popularity of that one song about jiggling and folding cash, there’s nothing wrong with having a preference. In fact, I know at least one instance where you’d probably be better off sticking with debit or credit. Plan on flying through Michigan any time soon?

Late last month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed two bills (HB 4631 and HB 4632) that expand civil forfeiture at airports, making it much easier for law enforcement to seize—and permanently keep—cash and other valuables from travelers.

“Allowing authorities to take air travelers’ cash without a criminal conviction, simply because they have a large sum of money, is a blatant violation of their rights,” said Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Dan Alban, who co-leads IJ’s National Initiative to End Forfeiture Abuse. “This will lead to innocent people losing their money and is a massive step in the wrong direction by Michigan lawmakers.”

…

The newly signed laws will let police employed by a public or regional airport authority forfeit property without a criminal conviction, or even a criminal charge, so long as it’s valued at over $20,000. Once a property is forfeited, state law lets cops keep 100% of the proceeds in drug cases—a massive incentive to police to profit.

While most Americans don’t have the bank to fly around, let alone walk through the airport with $20k+ hard cash, I get the feeling that some of our reader base — Biglaw lawyers and aspiring rappers that you are — may find themselves in a predicament where they accidentally bring the bonus money luggage through the airport.

While my gut-check response to reading about this was along the lines of “Don’t worry, this is clearly a 4th Amendment violation,” it’s a little hard to depend on our Supreme Court as a check to unconstitutionality when their most recent advice is that maybe as time goes on, the other branches will make things better.

New Michigan Law Lets Cops Seize Cash At Airports, No Crime Required [Forbes]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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