Many people believe that civil asset forfeiture is government robbery. Government can confiscate a large sum of money from a person, despite not accusing that person of a crime. The person then must prove innocence, that the money was not used for drugs or money laundering, for example. “Hands up! This is a civil asset forfeiture”—a joke on “Hands up! This is a robbery”—has been printed on an image.
       
“Hands up: this is a civil asset forfeiture” by Walter Olson was posted on Overlawyered on May 21, 2012. “HANDS UP! THIS IS A CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE” (an image shows a robbery) was posted on Twitter by Sal the Agorist on May 22, 2023.
 
 
Wikipedia: Civil forfeiture in the United States
In the United States, civil forfeiture (also called civil asset forfeiture or civil judicial forfeiture) is a process in which law enforcement officers take assets from people who are suspected of involvement with crime or illegal activity without necessarily charging the owners with wrongdoing. While civil procedure, as opposed to criminal procedure, generally involves a dispute between two private citizens, civil forfeiture involves a dispute between law enforcement and property such as a pile of cash or a house or a boat, such that the thing is suspected of being involved in a crime. To get back the seized property, owners must prove it was not involved in criminal activity. Sometimes it can mean a threat to seize property as well as the act of seizure itself. Civil forfeiture is not considered to be an example of a criminal justice financial obligation.
 
Overlawyered
Hands up: this is a civil asset forfeiture
By Walter Olson
May 21, 2012
I’ve got a new Cato at Liberty post pulling together three outrageous forfeiture stories that have been in the news the past few days. Many more cases at our forfeiture tag.
         
Twitter
LawBlogs
@LawBlogs
Hands up: this is a civil asset forfeiture: I’ve got a new Cato at Liberty post pulling together thr… http://lawblogs.net/yb50f
2:54 PM · May 21, 2012
 
Twitter
Walter Olson
@walterolson
If missed: hands up, this is a civil asset forfeiture [@overlawyered] http://dlvr.it/1blK1P
4:01 PM · May 23, 2012
     
Twitter
Graù Martian 👽
@Robin_Hoody
Where does it end?
 
Hands up?
Get on the ground?
Give me your money (civil forfeiture)
Give me your wife?
Lick my boot?
 
At what point do you grow a spine and fight back?
And if you never do out of fear. Then you aren’t really free.
9:40 AM · Aug 10, 2020
 
Twitter
Sal the Agorist
@SallyMayweather
(The following text is shown on an image of a robbery.—ed.)
HANDS UP!
THIS IS A CIVIL
ASSET FORFEITURE
8:02 PM · May 22, 2023