If a Police Dog "Alerts," Should You Lose Your Cash, Car and Other Property?

Should the government be allowed to search and seize your possessions based on nothing more than a positive "alert" from a drug-sniffing dog? The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires police, in most situations, to have what is known as a "probable cause" (a reasonable belief based on sufficient facts) before they can search or seize property. Increasingly, however, police have been using drug-sniffing dogs to establish probable cause to seize, and ultimately keep through civil forfeiture, cash, cars and other property on the grounds that the property may be linked to a drug crime.

IJ attorneys Darpana Sheth and Scott Bullock explain IJ's new amicus brief about civil forfeiture. Learn more at this link: http://www.ij.org/florida-v-harris-amicus

Read the brief here: http://www.ij.org/images/pdffolder/amicusbriefs/fl-v-harris-amicus.pdf
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