In the first decision of its kind in Nevada, a judge ruled last week that state law enforcement can't evade stricter requirements for seizing cash and property by partnering with the federal government.
The plaintiff in that lawsuit, a Marine veteran named Stephen Lara, had nearly $90,000 in cash seized from him in 2021 by two Nevada Highway Patrol officers. The cops admitted to Lara that there was nothing illegal about carrying large amounts of cash. But they decided that Lara's money was likely drug proceeds, and they coordinated with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to forfeit it through a process called civil asset forfeiture.
The Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm, sued the NHP and DEA on Lara's behalf in 2021, arguing not only that should Lara get his money back—the DEA agreed to return it shortly after the suit was filed—but that the NHP exceeded its legal authority to hand the case over to the feds rather than following Nevada's stricter asset forfeiture laws.
