[erroneousfunk]

A couple thoughts: It does get a fair amount of media coverage. John Oliver did a segment on it, it has multiple NYTimes articles, big articles in the Washington Post and the New Yorker, and all the usual places. It's not really "unknown" unless you don't read the news much.

I feel like it's not talked about much outside of the media, however. We talk about burglary a lot. We lock things up and hide valuables in cars. But civil forfeiture just doesn't come up too often in daily life for most people.

Why are people complacent about it? For the same reasons they're complacent about mandatory minimum sentencing. The victims are disproportionately black and hispanic. Whether or not they're actually engaging in illegal activity, they often have ties to drugs/prostitution -- perhaps through a relative, roommate, friend or colleague. The victims may also be poor (the population most likely to be unbanked and, ironically, have large amounts of cash around). They're often profiled to be people unlikely to go out and get a lawyer or navigate the system to get their property back.

[citizensixteen]

Thanks for the perspective, you made some good points. I was surprised to see there was a move towards forfeiture reform and then it swings back to business as usual. Even more surprised that, "it's not talked about much outside of the media."

Perhaps it's just one of those things we think will 'never effect' us and if it does there is not much you can do if you end up in a forfeiture situation.