maybe after we get the police a little less trigger happy with unarmed suspects, we can change the law to require a conviction to steal a mans property. How many checks against police power have we given up? Far too many.

“We don’t have to prove that the person is guilty,” Sean Waite, the agent in charge at the DEA’s Albuquerque’s office, told the Journal. “It’s that the money is presumed to be guilty.”

The burden of proof lies with those whose property is taken, who often are forced to wage costly court battles to prove they came by their possessions legally.

That’s where Michael Pancer, a San Diego attorney who now represents Rivers, comes in.

“What this is, is having your money stolen by a federal agent acting under the color of law,” Pancer told the Journal. “It’s a national epidemic. If my office got four to five cases just recently, and I’m just one attorney, you know this is happening thousands of times.”

More: DEA Steals $16,000 in Cash From Young Black Man, Because He Must Be a Drug Dealer