Poll Results: Civil Asset Forfeiture

August 28, 2015, 3:29 PM GMT+0

These are the topline results of a YouGov/Huffington Post survey of 1000 US adults interviewed August 25-27, 2015 on Joe Biden. The margin of error is 4.0%.

Click here to see full tables and demographic crossbreaks

Have you heard of the term "civil asset forfeiture"?
Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28%
No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72%

To the best of your knowledge, when can law enforcement permanently seize money or other property from a person?
Whenever they suspect it’s connected to criminal activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30%
Only if the person has been charged with a crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12%
Only if the person has been charged with and convicted of a crime . . . . . . 40%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18%

Which of these three options comes closest to your opinion about what SHOULD be legal?
Law enforcement should be able to permanently seize money or other property if they suspect it’s connected to criminal activity, even if no charges have been filed . . . . . 7%
Law enforcement should only be able to permanently seize money or other property if that person is charged with a crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9%
Law enforcement should only be able to permanently seize money or other property if that person is charged with and convicted of a crime . . . . . . . . . 71%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13%

What do you think should happen to money that is permanently seized by law enforcement?
It should go to the state’s budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39%
It should go to the police department’s budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13%
It should be used for something else . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21%

Let’s say a police officer witnesses a drug deal between two people. Afterwards, one person drives off in a car with the drugs, while another person drives off with the money. If the officer is only able to follow one car, which should he follow?
The car with the drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58%
The car with the money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12%

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