Until last year, most Americans probably had never heard of civil asset forfeiture, but it’s a big problem that allows law enforcement to seize hundreds of millions of dollars from citizens a year.

The issue has brought together groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Heritage Foundation (full disclosure: my former employer). Media outlets on the left like Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post scorn the process as much as media outlets on the right like the Daily Caller and the Federalist.