Commentary A new case brings up the importance of California’s landmark Assembly Bill 114, by then-Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco) in 1994, which severely limited “asset forfeiture” by state and local government agents. Unfortunately, it did not affect federal agents operating under federal law. The latest outrage was perpetrated by federal agents in Beverly Hills against innocent Californians with safe deposit boxes at U.S. Private Vaults. Reported the Washington Examiner on Sept. 27, “Armed with a warrant, FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents spent five days ripping several hundred safety deposit boxes out of the walls and laying claim to its contents.” Prosecutors alleged the seized items and cash were the proceeds of illegal drug transactions. “The problem is that federal authorities took the items from people who hadn’t been accused of a crime. “They’ve been able to keep it because of the country’s vague standards of civil forfeiture law, which allows the government …