1889 Institute: OK should abolish Civil Asset Forfeiture

ABOLISH CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE SAYS INSTITUTE

Or at least change the incentives officials face

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (March 6, 2019) – The United States Supreme Court recently held that the protection against excessive fines, enshrined in the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, applies to state governments, not only to the federal government. It also notes that the practice of Civil Asset Forfeiture can run afoul of this vital constitutional protection. In a new legal analysis, the 1889 Institute gives a brief summary of the decision and an analysis of what comes next.

The piece recommends that Oklahoma, which will be bound by the court’s decision, ban the abusive practice of Civil Asset Forfeiture, and realign incentives to avoid corrupt revenue measures like fines and fees that help to fund the agencies charged with enforcing them.

Civil Asset Forfeiture allows police departments to seize property belonging to citizens based on a suspicion that the property was used in or was the proceeds of a crime. However, basic due process rules do not apply, such as the right to an attorney, trial by jury, and presumption of innocence. Hearings often go unopposed because the cost of hiring an attorney to dispute the accusations is more than the value of the property. Often, criminal charges are never filed against the property owner.

“There is no accusation of wrongdoing on the part of current officials, but the incentives current law gives them are badly misaligned,” said Michael R. Davis, the author of the report. “Anyone involved in writing tickets, anyone involved in enforcing fines or fees of any kind should be completely separated from the fiscal impacts of those fees and fines. A foundational principle of the rule of law is that no one may judge their own case. But when your department is funded through fees and fines, that’s exactly what happens.”

The paper recommends that all fines and fees received from any state or local government agency be placed into the state general fund. This ensures that financial penalties are doled out when they are deserved, not when the relevant agency needs a cash infusion. “Even the most honest officials change their behavior when an agency gets funding from fines,” said Davis.

Says Davis, “Civil Asset Forfeiture is the most widely abused of these money grabs. But unless Oklahoma puts an end to them all at once, we can expect law enforcement agencies to turn from forfeiture to increased ticketing when their expenditures outrun their budgets.”


About the 1889 Institute
The 1889 Institute is an Oklahoma think tank committed to independent, principled state policy fostering limited and responsible government, free enterprise and a robust civil society. The publication, “Well Begun is (Only) Half Done: The Supreme Court’s Excessive Fines Decision; Need for Further Reform” and other reports on licensing can be found on the nonprofit’s website at http://www.1889institute.org/govt-profiteering.

1889 Institute: Ten Top Tens

1889 INSTITUTE RECOMMENDS TOP-TEN STATE RANKINGS WORTH PURSUING

Some popular rankings don’t make the cut

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (February 20, 2019) – Oklahoma has recently prioritized becoming a Top-ten State, but has yet to precisely define that metric. In that spirit, the 1889 Institute, an Oklahoma state policy think tank, has published “Ten Top Tens: State Rankings Worth Pursuing.” This publication identifies ten broad policy categories worth pursuing by a state looking for top-ten status.

Specific valid metrics for which states can be meaningfully ranked are identified for each category. Also highlighted are some specific rankings which are popular and often cited by media, but which are not valid for public policy purposes.

The ten areas where state government can at least indirectly have a measurable, positive impact, as identified by the 1889 Institute, are: education, economic well-being, economic neutrality, government efficiency and accountability, regulation, health, transportation effectiveness, court systems, public safety, and recreation.

“We looked at each of these areas and recognized that they are too broad and complex to be boiled down to a single metric for ranking all the states,” said the study’s primary author, Michael R. Davis, Research Fellow at the 1889 Institute. “We also wanted to contrast sound rankings with rankings where being at the top is actually a bad sign for a state’s long term economic health. It’s disturbing how much good press some of them get,” he said.

Coauthor Vance Fried, Senior Fellow at the Institute and Professor Emeritus in Free Enterprise at Oklahoma State University, said that many state rankings he has seen make the news, but have no validity in public policy. “There are so many rankings that equate spending with quality,” said Fried, “but this assumes more and better outcomes just based on dollars spent.” “Any state’s goal should be to spend the least in an area and get the best results, but when states are ranked purely on spending, it’s as if we are trying to spend the most, but results don’t matter,” he said.

One area focused on was education, with valid rankings to include: academic performance adjusted for demographics, cost effectiveness of public education, and average cost of a 4-year college degree. Invalid measures include: average teacher salary, spending per student, and pre-K enrollment levels.


About the 1889 Institute
The 1889 Institute is an Oklahoma think tank committed to independent, principled state policy fostering limited and responsible government, free enterprise and a robust civil society. The publication, “Ten Top Tens: State Rankings Worth Pursuing” can be found on the nonprofit’s website at https://1889institute.org/fiscal-policy.

1889 Institute: End locksmith licensing

1889 INSTITUTE CALLS FOR END TO MOST LOCKSMITH LICENSING

Only 15 states regulate locksmiths; only Oklahoma requires a locksmith to be 21

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (December 19, 2018) – The 1889 Institute, an Oklahoma state policy think tank, has published “Locksmith Licensure in Oklahoma”. It finds no public interest justification for the continued licensure of locksmiths. Only 15 states regulate locksmiths, with five of these requiring only registration. Of the 10 states that license locksmiths, only Oklahoma requires a locksmith to have reached the age of 21 in order to be licensed.

“One wonders if the Oklahoma legislature believes that this state is unique in harboring young hoodlums itching to use the cover of locksmithing as a way to commit crime,” said Michael R. Davis, attorney, Research Fellow for the 1889 Institute, and author of the report.

This latest short study, or Policy Prescription, from the 1889 Institute explains that neither of two conditions that must simultaneously exist to justify occupational licensing are present for locksmiths. These questions are, first, that there must be real, significant risk for patrons, and, second, there must be little or no market and legal incentives for service providers to take proper precautions.

The 1889 Institute has repeatedly found that when Oklahoma licenses an occupation, it imposes the most onerous conditions in the nation. For funeral directors and embalmers, it imposes high barriers for practitioners to move in from other states. Only Oklahoma requires electrologists to have a bachelor’s degree. Oklahoma does not accept training hours from out-of-state cosmetology schools. This state is one of only 15 that licenses pedorthists. The Institute has not found licensing to be warranted for any of these occupations.

The 1889 Institute has produced several publications regarding occupational licensing, including “The Need to Review and Reform Occupational Licensing in Oklahoma,” “Policy Maker’s Guide to Evaluating Proposed and Existing Occupational Licensing Laws,” and “A Win-Win for Consumers and Professionals Alike: An Alternative to Occupational Licensing.”

These reports lay out, in detail, the intellectual and policy justifications for eliminating many of the occupational licensing laws in Oklahoma and other states. Unfortunately, the Oklahoma legislature has yet to act on any of these recommendations.

About the 1889 Institute
The 1889 Institute is an Oklahoma think tank committed to independent, principled state policy fostering limited and responsible government, free enterprise and a robust civil society. The publication, “Locksmith Licensure in Oklahoma,” and other reports mentioned, can be found on the nonprofit’s website at http://www.1889institute.org/licensing.html.