Follow US Immigration and Life in the US: John Oliver recently aired a segment regarding civil forfeiture by US police on the road.
The simple plot is as follows:
1. A man bought a car on eBay and was carrying $20,000 in cash to pay for it. He was pulled over by police for speeding, and all the cash was confiscated on the grounds that "a normal person would not carry that much cash." The man repeatedly explained he was going to buy a car, but they would not listen, nor did they include it in the police report.
2. A child was found with $40 worth of heroin, and the police immediately seized his parents' house on the grounds of "drug trafficking at home."
3. A man was given $24,000 in cash by his father and was driving from Michigan to California to look for a new job. When he was driving through Nevada, he was pulled over. While checking his driver's license, the police specifically asked, "Do you have a large amount of cash on you?" He honestly admitted to having the money his father gave him. The police immediately ordered him out of the car and brought in a drug-sniffing dog. Although the dog did not find any drugs, only the money, the police said, "Based on my current investigation, I believe you are driving from Michigan to California to buy drugs, and this is drug money. It is all confiscated!"