Civil Asset Forfeiture

C.J. Ciaramella | 8.8.2024 12:02 PM

The outrageous practice of civil asset forfeiture—which allows police to seize property on the mere suspicion of a crime—is getting its moment in the spotlight in Rebel Ridge, an upcoming Netflix action movie starring Aaron Pierre and Don Johnson.

According to a synopsis, Terry Richmond (Pierre) is a former Marine who "grapples his way through a web of small-town corruption when an attempt to post bail for his cousin escalates into a violent standoff with the local police chief" (Johnson).

Check out the trailer:

Judging from all this, Rebel Ridge is a movie in the fine tradition of First Blood, Walking Tall, and Road House, where a determined man kicks a whole town's ass. (See also: Yojimbo, High Plains Drifter, and every Jack Reacher book.)

I can't speak to how realistic the notion of one guy single-handedly going to war with a county sheriff's department is, but the depiction of civil asset forfeiture, at least from the clips in the trailer, is unfortunately quite accurate.

Rebel Ridge's inciting incident........

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