Dark Rivers of the Heart

posted at the property.

Darius said, “This is crap. Okay, maybe it doesn’t technically violate the recent Supreme Court decision on forfeiture, but it sure as hell violates the spirit. For one thing, the court said they now have to give the property owner a notice of intent to seize.”

“Intent to seize?” Harris said, bewildered.

“Of course, they’ll say they served that notice at the same time as the eviction order, which they did. But the court clearly meant there should be a decent interval between notice and eviction.”

Harris didn’t understand. “Evicted Jessica and the girls?”

“Don’t worry about them,” Darius said. “They’re staying with Bonnie and me. They’re all right.”

“How can they evict them?”

“Until the Supreme Court rules on other aspects of forfeiture laws, if it ever does, eviction can still take place prior to the hearing, which is unfair. Unfair? Jesus, it’s worse than unfair, it’s totalitarian. At least these days you get a hearing, which wasn’t required till recently. You’ll go before a judge in ten days, and he’ll listen to your argument against forfeiture.”

“It’s my house.”

“That’s no argument. We’ll do better than that.”

“But it’s my house.”

“I have to tell you, the hearing doesn’t mean much. The feds will pull every trick in the book to be sure it’s assigned to a judge with a strong history of endorsing the forfeiture laws. I’ll try to prevent that, try to get you a judge who still remembers this is supposed to be a democracy. But the reality is, ninety-nine percent of the time, the feds get the judge they want. We’ll have a hearing, but the ruling is almost certain to be against us and in favor of forfeiture.”

Harris was having difficulty absorbing the horror of what his brother had told him. Shaking his head, he said, “They can’t put my family out of the house. I haven’t been convicted of anything.”

“You’re a cop. You must know how the forfeiture laws work. They’ve been on the books ten years, growing broader every year.”

“I’m a cop, yes, not a prosecutor. I get the bad guys, and the district attorney’s office decides under what laws to prosecute.”

“Then this will be an unpleasant lesson. See…to lose your property under forfeiture statutes, you don’t have to be convicted.”

“They can take my property even if I’m found innocent?” Harris said, and he was sure that he was having a nightmare based on some Kafka short story he’d read in college.

“Harris, listen very closely here. Forget about conviction or acquittal. They can take your property and not even charge you with a crime. Without taking you to court. Of course, you have been charged, which gives them an even stronger hand.”

“Wait, wait. How did this happen?”

“If there’s evidence of any nature that the property was used for an illegal purpose, even one of which you have no knowledge, that’s sufficient probable cause for forfeiture. Isn’t that a cute touch? You don’t even have to know about it, to lose your property.”

“No, I mean, how did this happen in America?”

“The war against drugs. That’s what the forfeiture laws were written for. To come down hard on drug dealers, break them.”

Darius was more subdued than on his previous visit that morning. His hyperkinetic nature was expressed not primarily in his usual, voluble flow of words as much as in his ceaseless fidgeting.

Harris was as alarmed by the change in his brother as by what he was learning. “This evidence, the cocaine, was planted.”

“You know that, I know that. But the court has to see you prove it before it’ll reverse a forfeiture.”

“You mean, I’m guilty till proven innocent.”

“That’s the way the forfeiture laws work. But at least you’ve been charged with a crime. You’ll have your day in court. By proving you’re innocent in a criminal trial, you’ll indirectly have a chance to prove forfeiture was unjustified. Now, I hope to God they don’t drop the charges.”

Harris blinked in surprise. “You hope they don’t drop them?”

“If they drop the charges, no criminal trial. Then the best chance you’ll ever have to get your house back is at the upcoming hearing I mentioned.”

“My best chance? At this rigged hearing?”

“Not rigged exactly. Just in front of their judge.”

“What’s the difference?”

Darius nodded wearily. “Not much. And once forfeiture is approved in that hearing, if you didn’t have a criminal trial in which to state your case, you’d have to initiate legal action, sue the FBI and the DEA, to get the forfeiture overturned. That would be an uphill battle. Government attorneys would repeatedly attempt to have your suit dismissed — until they found a sympathetic court. Even if you got a jury or panel of judges to overturn the forfeiture, the government would appeal and appeal, trying to exhaust you.”

“But if they dropped the charges against me, how could they still keep my house?” He understood what his brother had told him. He just didn’t understand the logic or the justice of it.

“Like I explained,” Darius said patiently, “all they have to show is evidence the property was used for illegal purposes. Not that you or any member of your family was involved in that activity.”

“But then who would they claim was stashing cocaine there?”

Darius sighed. “They don’t have to name anyone.”

Astonished, reluctantly accepting the full monstrousness of it at last, Harris said, “They can seize my house by claiming someone was dealing drugs out of it — but not have to name a suspect?”

“As long as they have evidence, yes.”

“The evidence was planted!”

“Like I explained already, you’d have to prove that to a court.”

“But if they don’t charge me with a crime, I might never get into a court with a suit of my own.”

“Right.” Darius smiled humorlessly. “Now you see why I hope to God they don’t drop the charges. Now you understand the rules.”

“Rules?” Harris said. “These aren’t rules. This is madness.”

He needed to pace, work off a sudden dark energy that filled him. His anger and outrage were so great that his knees were weak when he tried to stand. Halfway to his feet, he was forced to sit again, as if suffering the effects of another stun grenade.

“You okay?” Darius worried.

“But these laws were only supposed to target major drug dealers, racketeers, Mafia.”

“Sure. People who might liquidate property, flee the country before they went to trial. That was the original intent when the laws were passed. But now there are two hundred federal offenses, not just drug offenses, that allow property forfeiture without trial, and they were used fifty thousand times last year.”

“Fifty thousand!”

“It’s becoming a major source of funding for law enforcement. Once liquidated, eighty percent of seized assets goes to the police agencies in the case, twenty percent to the prosecutor.”

They sat in silence. The old-fashioned wall clock ticked softly. The sound brought to mind the image of a time bomb, and Harris felt as though he were, in fact, sitting on just such an explosive device.

No less angry than he had been but more in control of his anger, he said at last, “They’re going to sell my house, aren’t they?”

“Well, at least this is a federal seizure. If it was under the California forfeiture law, it’d be gone ten days after the hearing. Feds give us more time.”

“They’ll sell it.”

“Listen, we’ll do everything we can to overturn before then….” Darius’s voice trailed away. He was no longer able to look his brother in the eyes. Finally he said, “And even after assets are liquidated, if you can overturn, then