FEAR-List Bulletin posted by Arnold Gaunt, 5/11/96

After overwhelming passage here in Utah, earlier this year, of egregious SB 253, it is pleasing to report some good news regarding opposition to asset forfeiture. As a duly elected delegate to the Utah Republican Party (URP), I responded to the opportunity to review the Party's proposed platform for 1996.

In the section of the platform entitled Private Property, I proposed the addition of "We also resist the forfeiture of private property from innocent owners".

This proposed amendment was made to the URP Platform Committee, which is co-chaired by the Lt. Governor (the governor signed SB 253) and the Speaker of the House (who allowed SB 253 to be rammed through the House in the waning
hours of the Legislature). The committee was a little slow to respond, despite my strenuous pleadings, but unexpected favorable intervention from a couple of others attending the meeting (including a recently retired BYU Political Science professor) got the momentum going the right way.

The net result was that the committee approved the amendment, except that it was strengthened beyond my proposed wording to "We strongly oppose the forfeiture of private property from innocent owners". Last Saturday the proposed platform, along with amendments generated by the Platform Committee, was approved by the delegates to the URP state convention. It is my
expectation the new platform provision just cited will be helpful in further making the case against asset forfeiture in this overwhelmingly Republican-dominated state.