Recent Issues
Protect Property Owners from Unreasonable Forfeiture
Our justice system is supposed to presume innocence until guilt is proven, but every year, Pennsylvanians are stripped of about $14 million on allegations that their property was involved in a crime. It’s time to protect the rights of the innocent and end the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture turns justice on its head, forcing property owners to prove their innocence instead of requiring the government to prove their guilt. It’s a system in desperate
Read More >Property Seizures Threaten PA Small Business
Being a small business owner in Pennsylvania is not easy. There’s the punishing tax burden levied by state and local governments that see small firms not so much as vital cogs in the commonwealth’s economic engine as cash cows to be milked to pay for more government spending.
Read More >Private Property & Liberty
Good afternoon. My name is Matt Brouillette, and I am president & CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, a public policy research and educational institute based in Harrisburg. We develop and advance public policy grounded in the founding principles of limited constitutional government, political and economic freedom, and personal responsibility for one’s actions.
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Recent Blog Posts
Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Effort Gutted
Under Pennsylvania’s civil asset forfeiture laws, cash, cars, and even homes can be forfeited without a hearing. It’s a system in desperate need of reform. Unfortunately, a bill to restore justice was recently gutted, allowing confiscation without a conviction to continue.
You're Innocent, but Your House may be Guilty
A recent episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver highlights the problem of asset forfeiture, with specific references to the city of Philadelphia. One recent instance resulted in a lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice. Chris and Markela Sourovelis had their home seized because their son had been caught with $40 worth of narcotics. They had committed no crime, but prosecutors determined their house may be guilty.