Police greenlighted to seize suspects' property b/f charges

Well, whether or not there was an "official blessing" seems inconsequential. It was happening since the 80's. The Feds--at some level--knew it was happening (because they were getting their cut). So they accepted it. The Justice Department accepted it.

Holder deserves some credit for addressing the abuses, I think. But again, almost no one seemed to care until the investigative pieces started to appear in 2014. Then suddenly, it was an outrage. So Holder--and the AGs before him--necessarily a) accepted the practice or b) were unaware of it. Which, in either case, speaks poorly of them (unless one happens to think this practice is/was a good idea).

But true enough, there's been light shed on these things, and the government--through Holder--addressed the problem to some extent. Sessions is going backward imo, though he--Justice--claims there will be more safeguards. I guess in theory what that is supposed to mean is the best of both worlds: allowing the practice when it makes sense, but preventing abuses by police departments. I'm skeptical that this will be the case, so I can't say I agree with what Justice is doing, at all. But it's incorrect--imo--to suppose that they're breaking new ground here, that they're crossing lines that have never been crossed.



ETA: It seems to me that whenever a government program involves agencies/levels of government "getting their cut," there's probably something wrong going on.