FEAR Lobbying & Grassroots Organizing Materials
Last update 1/28/15 (minor link corrections by Leon Felkins)
Write your Congressmen! Address U.S. Senators' mail to:
U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. 20510
U.S. Representatives' mail should be addressed to:
U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. 20515
FREE download of Rep. Henry J. Hyde's book - "Forfeiting Our Property Rights"
Most people don't know it, but the government can take people's homes, cars, and money without charging them with a crime -- and the burden of recovery is on the owners! In Forfeiting Our Property Rights, Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois examines the abuse inherent in civil forfeiture, the law that lets government take property that is merely suspected of having "facilitated" crime. Hyde shows how forfeiture law has cost innocent people their property and at least one citizen, Donald Scott, his life. In fact, over a quarter of a million Americans have had their property seized through forfeiture law. Congressman Hyde proposes an overhaul of the law to protect innocent property owners, including a shift in the burden of proof from citizen to the government and a raising of the standard the government must satisfy to seize property in the first place. This alarm on behalf of our threatened civil liberties and rights couldn't be more timely.
Print out these FEAR pamphlets from this website, photocopy and distribute them to your friends, organizations and legislators
- The FEAR tri-fold flyer
- What to do when your property has been seized
- FEAR Position Paper -- "Federal Forfeiture Laws Need To Be Amended To Restore Due Process And Protect The Property Rights Of Innocent People: F.E.A.R.'s Proposal For Reform," by Brenda Grantland, Esq., Sept. 30, 1992 (partially updated 12-1-98)
Sample testimony before legislature: John Paff's testimony before N.J. legislature, by FEAR Board member John Paff, FEAR-List Bulletin 3/16/96
"Fighting Locally", tips on how you can get involved in forfeiture reform in your community, FEAR-List Bulletin, 9/21/95, by John Paff
Auction Action, by Judy Osburn, F.E.A.R. Chronicles, Vol. 3 No. 2 (March 1996)
Book, Forfeiting Our Property Rights, by U.S. Representative Henry Hyde, CATO Institute 1995. Review in FEAR-List Bulletin, 05/05/95, by John Paff
American Forfeiture Law: Property Owners Meet the Prosecutor, by Terrence Reed, CATO Policy Analysis No. 179 (September 29, 1992) The link is to the text of the publication (91k).
Text of New Mexico Forfeiture Reform Bill, F.E.A.R. List Bulletin, 03/11/95, posted by John Paff (note: the 1995 NM legislative session ended without this bill passing, but supporters intend to try again next year. This would be acceptable as a model state forfeiture reform bill.
Now Is The Time For You To Personally Lobby, FEAR Chronicles Vol. 2 No. 1 (Dec. 1993)