Charles Clark
At the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, authorities from the Drug Enforcement Administration searched through Clarke's belongings after a ticket agent said his bag smelled like marijuana. Prompted by the police, Clarke said that he had $11,000 on him and admitted to smoking marijuana en route to the airport.
Although authorities found no drugs after the search, they still seized his money. Now, with help from the Institute for Justice, Clarke is taking his case to federal court.
"I was scared, it was a ton of emotions going through my mind," Clarke told Business Insider. "I didn't know what to do or what was going to happen; I just knew I was losing my life savings and that I wouldn't have anything when it was gone."
Clarke's $11,000 came from five years' worth of jobs, financial aid, gifts, and his mother's benefits as an injured Army veteran, according to Forbes. Because his mother was moving apartments, Clarke took the money with him when he flew to Cincinnati, Ohio, to visit his family, fearing the moving company would find it.
The officers who seized his money claimed they had "probable cause" to do so for a variety of factors, including his one-way ticket purchase, his inability to prove where the money came from, a K-9 giving a positive indication, and the smell of marijuana on his luggage, reports the Daily Signal.
Clarke's money was seized through a legal process called civil forfeiture. Under the process, law enforcement officers can seize assets from individuals if there is suspected illegal activity. The seizure can occur without a crime being charged against an individual.
Renée Flaherty, one of Clarke's attorneys, told Business Insider that civil forfeiture laws motivate law enforcement, as state and local police get a percentage of forfeiture proceeds for referring seized assets to federal authorities.
"Police and prosecutors cannot treat citizens like ATM's," Flaherty said.
The government has offered Clarke a settlement, but he has no plans to go along with government deals, according to The Daily Signal.
"I want everyone to know that carrying cash is not a crime," Clarke said. "The law is not right. Innocent people are being treated like criminals without even being convicted of anything."
Comment: Federal civil forfeiture laws feature an appalling lack of due process: They empower the government to seize private property from Americans without ever charging, let alone convicting, them of a crime. Perversely, the government then pockets the proceeds while providing no prompt way to get a court to review the seizure. Police forces throughout the country are also taking advantage of civil forfeiture laws to enrich themselves and their departments. It seems the police now have a mandate to do as they please, knowing there will be few repercussions from their actions.