Chris and Markela Sourovelis. Image source: Institute for Justice
Chris and Markela Sourovelis are suing Philadelphia, the district attorney’s office, and the police department to shut down one of the most aggressive forfeiture units in the country.
It all started one afternoon last May when Chris Sourvelis received a frantic phone call from his wife.
A few months after their son was arrested for selling $40 worth of drugs outside of their house in the Somerton section of the city, the police had returned. But this time they wanted something else — their home.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t bother anybody,” Chris Sourovelis told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But we struggle from week to week not knowing what will happen.”
What started as a way for Philadelphia officials to seize property from drug traffickers has quickly evolved. Now Philadelphia’s civil forfeiture unit allows homes to be taken away from homeowners who haven’t even broken the law.
And Sourovelis isn’t the only one who feels it isn’t right to take away homes from those not convicted of crimes.
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