New Polling: Michigan Residents Overwhelmingly Back Civil Asset Forfeiture Reforms

With reforms moving through the Michigan State Senate, our newly released polling shows tremendous support in Michigan for overhauling the civil asset forfeiture process, with a majority saying they would vote for a legislator who shared their desire for reform.

• 80% of Michigan residents agree that the current laws require major reforms. After learning more about the civil asset forfeiture, an overwhelming majority of respondents would support reform, including 76% of Republicans, 84% of Democrats and 80% of independents.

• After hearing both sides of the argument, support grew to 90% in Michigan.

• Supporting civil asset forfeiture reforms can help legislators in the next election: Legislators who support civil asset forfeiture reform could expect broad support from voters, 51% said they’d be more likely to re-elect a representative willing to reform the current laws.

Fixing the civil asset forfeiture process it will be a significant step toward making the criminal justice system smarter, fairer, and more effective. 

Fix Forfeiture released this new polling in conjunction with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and ACLU-Michigan’s new study, “Civil Forfeiture in Michigan: A Review and Recommendations for Reforms.”