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Civil Forfeiture: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

LastWeekTonight · commentary · Watch on YouTube

Law, policing & justiceMedia, journalism & propaganda

What it is

John Oliver's Last Week Tonight segment on civil asset forfeiture, the process by which police can seize property they suspect is tied to crime. It explains how the property itself is put on trial and how departments profit.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN treats it as the standard accessible explainer on civil forfeiture, linked in nearly every thread about police seizures.

  • 8 people recommended it
  • 7 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2014, last 2024

What HN commenters said

  1. “John Oliver did a great job explaining the problem this week on his show.”

    John Oliver explains civil forfeiture and why property is tried separately.

    rickdale, 2014-10 · Recommendation · in “Finding a Video Poker Bug Made These Guys Rich”

  2. “This is John Oliver's commentary on this issue.”

    John Oliver's commentary directly relevant to asset seizure.

    sremani, 2014-11 · Recommendation · in “Police Use Department Wish List When Deciding Which Assets to Seize”

  3. “Watch the link.”

    Explains how goods are treated as guilty until proven innocent.

    valarauca1, 2014-11 · Recommendation · in “For Sale: 50,000 Bitcoins”

  4. “If you haven't seen John Oliver's segment on civil asset forfeiture, you should really check it out”

    John Oliver's segment on civil asset forfeiture.

    jmstout, 2015-05 · Recommendation · in “How the DEA took a young man’s life savings without charging him with a crime”

  5. “here's a video from John Oliver so you can learn more about this ongoing heinous practice”

    Learn more about police forfeiture preying on the poor.

    hobs, 2018-06 · Recommendation · in “A 64-year-old put his life savings in his carry-on, and U.S. Customs took it”

  6. “John Oliver has an entertaining take on it”

    Entertaining take on police taking money through forfeiture.

    emj, 2021-05 · Recommendation · in “A police dog who cried drugs at every traffic stop”

  7. “John Oliver did a great job of explaining Civil Forfeiture a few years back”

    Clear explanation of civil forfeiture for non-Americans.

    kuhn, 2023-06 · Recommendation · in “Using loophole, Seward County seizes millions from motorists without convictions”

  8. “John Oliver had a great episode on it”

    Explains charges against property rather than people.

    curtis3389, 2024-08 · Recommendation · in “"Jeff Bezos and Amazon tried to imprison my husband"”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: civil forfeiture, police, john oliver, law enforcement, property seizure

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