Former Motel Caswell owner testifies in nation’s capital on pitfalls of civil forfeiture law

Former Motel Caswell owner testifies in nation’s capital on pitfalls of civil forfeiture law
Russ Caswell, right foreground, is joined by Institute of Justice lawyer Darpana Sheth at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the federal civil-forfeiture law, which nearly cost Caswell his business, the Motel Caswell in Tewksbury in 2013. Institute of Justice photo Sun staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.
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By CHELSEA FEINSTEIN
PUBLISHED: April 16, 2015 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: July 11, 2019 at 12:00 a.m.

TEWKSBURY — Russ Caswell may have won his own battle, but he’s still fighting the war.

Caswell, a Tewksbury resident who successfully fought a federal government attempt to seize his motel under civil-forfeiture laws in 2013, traveled to Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., Wednesday to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a push for reforming the law.

“It’s completely wrong and un-American and shouldn’t even exist like it does today,” Caswell said after the hearing. “I guess the intent way back was OK, but people nowadays have just distorted it into something else.”

The government attempted to seize the Motel Caswell in 2009, citing 15 drug incidents that had taken place on the Route 38 property from 1994 to 2008. Over that period, Caswell said, he rented out more than 125,000 rooms.

The case was dismissed when a federal judge found that police made no effort to work with or warn Caswell. Caswell has since sold the property for $2.1 million to make way for a bowling alley and entertainment facility.

Caswell described his experience as a “living nightmare” courtesy of the federal government. He said he was targeted despite the fact that he had cooperated with police, put cameras up at the motel and checked IDs and license plates for known criminals.

He said he believes he was targeted because his motel was a “mom-and-pop business,” rather than a major corporation with the means to fight a lawsuit.

A review by The Sun of the Tewksbury Police Department arrest log from 2007 to 2012 showed that more drug-related arrests were made at the addresses of the nearby Walmart, Motel 6 and the plaza containing Home Depot, Applebee’s and Burger King.

“They just saw us as a soft target with a big financial gain for themselves,” Caswell said.

“It was all about money. It wasn’t about drugs,” he added.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, apologized to Caswell after hearing his story.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble you had to go through because of law enforcement overreach,” Grassley said.

Caswell urged reforms to the law that would require that a person be convicted of a crime before the assets are seized.

He said after the meeting that he was optimistic that reform efforts would receive bipartisan support.

“I think it’s finally getting out there and people are stating to get how ridiculous those laws are,” he said.

Institute for Justice attorney Darpana Sheth, who was part of the team that represented Caswell, also testified Wednesday. She said that there were two key defects in the existing law: the incentive for agencies to “self-finance” with the assets they seize, and inadequate protections for property owners.

The single most important reform that needs to be made to the law, Sheth said, is restoring the presumption of innocence.

“The deck is really stacked against property owners,” she said.

The hearing came amidst what many senators said was strong bipartisan support for reforming the law.

Grassley stressed the need for reform and the tendency of the program to infringe on the rights of citizens.

“As asset forfeiture is currently practiced, nothing is obliging the government to control itself. Just the opposite,” Grassley said. “Civil-asset forfeiture leads government to exceed its just powers over the governed.”

On the state level, a bill was signed in New Mexico last week essentially eliminating the state’s civil-forfeiture laws.

A bill before both houses of Congress called the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act, introduced by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, seeks to reform the federal civil -forfeiture laws.

Those measures would include ending equitable sharing, in which seized assets are shared between state and federal law-enforcement agencies, raising the burden of proof and placing that burden on the government, ensuring that the government will provide representation to property owners, ending the profit incentive for local agencies and requiring a conviction before any property is seized.

Paul said the bill would correct an “injustice” that disproportionately affects minorities and the poor.

“Civil forfeiture turns justice on its head,” Paul said. “Our current laws presume you are guilty until you can prove your innocence.”

The committee also heard from Chuck Canterbury, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, and Jonathan Bach of law firm Cooley LLP.

Canterbury said that while there was a need for some reform, proposed changes to the law could have the effect of reducing funding to local law-enforcement agencies.

“To end equitable sharing completely and without first measuring the impact of recent reforms is simply not sound public policy and may wind up doing much more harm than good,” Canterbury said.

Reforming the law was about finding the right balance, said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont.

“We want to balance the appropriate needs of law enforcement, but also the basic rights of people,” Leahy said. “I think that can be done.”

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