Pennsylvania’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-PA) released a report Wednesday slamming the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office over “aggressive enforcement” of civil forfeiture laws. The report found that over $1 million has been seized from innocent civilians, and that African Americans are “disproportionately affected.”

Here are the key takeaways from the report:

• Almost one-third of cash forfeiture cases involve money owned by people who have not been found guilty of a crime — about 1,500 Philadelphians each year.

• Sixty-three percent of Philadelphia cash forfeitures each year involve money taken from African-Americans, who make up only 43 percent of Philadelphia’s population. African-American people account for 71 percent of innocent owners who have cash forfeited in Philadelphia each year.

• Roughly 6,000 forfeiture cases are filed annually in Philadelphia.

• Annually, the District Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia takes and keeps 100 homes, 150 vehicles, and roughly $4 million in cash, for a total of around $5 million in income.

• Each year, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office receives forfeiture income equivalent to about 7 percent of its budget.

• Requests by the Philadelphia DA’s office to forfeit cash (called “forfeiture petitions”) were granted in an estimated 96% of cases, settled in 3%, and rejected in only 1% of cases.

• The vast majority of property seized in Philadelphia was small amounts of cash, with over half of those involving amounts of $192 or less.

“Supporters of the current civil asset forfeiture process say it’s a necessary tool for stopping drug kingpins,” said Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “But forfeiture has been used against ordinary citizens, many of whom are poor and without the resources to fight back against the strong arm of the government.”

Shuford cited the fact that, unlike criminal defendants, people facing loss of property through civil forfeiture have no right to a public attorney. Nor, the report found, can many of the people affected most by these laws afford to hire a lawyer and reclaim their property.

Three weeks ago, District Attorney Seth Williams said that his office will continue to strengthen civil forfeiture protocols, and that he believes they are an asset for fighting crime.

"We approach civil forfeiture as a tool to protect innocent residents from drug dealers who use their homes to sell drugs," Williams said. "The district attorney continues to work to strengthen the civil forfeiture protocols while also continuing to keep neighborhoods safe.”

The full ACLU report can be read here: Guilty Property: How Law Enforcement Takes $1 Million in Cash from  Innocent Philadelphians Every Year — and Gets Away with It.