Marine veteran Stephen Lara lost his life savings in an instant while driving through the Great Basin Desert. He had done nothing wrong, but Nevada State Police stopped his rental car, grabbed his cash, and left him stranded on Interstate 80.

People concerned about lazy government workers should watch the bodycam video. The agency sniffed out a potential payday and pursued the money with passion. Details like Lara’s innocence did not matter.

What came next was civil forfeiture, a process that allows the government to keep seized property permanently without linking it to wrongdoing in criminal court. Most states do not even require an arrest or conviction.

Speculation and innuendo can suffice, destroying the intent of the Fifth Amendment, which says no person shall be deprived of property without due process of law.

Once civil forfeiture cases end, participating agencies can keep up to 100 percent of the proceeds for themselves. The result is an incentive to patrol for profit. One former police chief in Columbia, Mo., called the revenue “pennies from heaven.” Lara prefers a different description "highway robbery."

Congress can help end the legalized theft with the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration

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