Sen. Rand Paul wants law enforcement officials to stop seizing property from people who aren’t being charged or convicted with a crime, arguing that asset seizure has contributed to racial tension in the U.S.
The Kentucky Republican with libertarian views joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate on Tuesday to re-introduce the FAIR Act, which aims to protect Fifth Amendment rights. It’s an issue that members of both parties have been trying to tackle for years.
Paul, who’s angling towards a 2016 presidential bid, has been active in putting his name on legislative efforts that try to reform the criminal justice system.
“I think it’s part of the anger that’s building up from a lot of people in our country,” he said at a press conference on Capitol Hill, referencing anecdotes of people losing their homes or cars over marijuana investigations.
“Martin Luther King talked about there being two Americas, where one America really was treated in a just fashion and one wasn’t,” he continued. ” At one point in time, (it was) based on color and it was awful. Now it’s not so much based on color on purpose. But there is an inadvertent sense on the war of drugs that has allowed people of color to be caught up more in this.”
Paul said he’s spoken with Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and thinks the bill has a chance of getting a hearing.