Traveling with cash is legal. Yet travelers continue to face aggressive stops, searches, and seizures at airports under the banner of drug interdiction, even when little or no drugs are found. A recent settlement involving comedians Eric André and Clayton English highlights how these practices can cross constitutional lines and why experienced legal counsel is essential when law enforcement takes your money.
The Atlanta Jetbridge Stops and the Lawsuit That Followed
According to View From the Wing, in 2020 and 2021, Clayton County plainclothes officers conducted interdiction stops in the jetbridges at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Passengers already cleared by TSA were approached as they walked to their aircraft. Officers displayed badges, took identification and boarding passes, questioned travelers about drugs, and searched bags.
Clayton English was stopped in October 2020 while heading to a flight to Los Angeles. Officers searched his carry-on after questioning him about drugs. Eric André was stopped in April 2021 while connecting from Charleston to Los Angeles. He later described the encounter publicly, noting he was the only Black passenger in his boarding group and that officers asked about cocaine, methamphetamine, or unprescribed medication. Actor Jean Elie reported a similar stop and filmed the disparity he observed.
Over an eight-month period, officers conducted 402 such jetbridge stops. They recovered only 36 grams of drugs and six prescription pills in total. They seized more than $1 million in cash and money orders. Only two people faced charges; many others had their money taken while still being allowed to board their flights. Race data recorded for most stops showed a disproportionate impact on Black passengers and people of color relative to overall domestic air travel demographics.
André and English sued Clayton County, its police chief, individual officers, and an investigator in 2022. They alleged unreasonable seizures and searches under the Fourth Amendment, among other claims. A district court initially dismissed the case. The Eleventh Circuit later reinstated key Fourth Amendment claims, emphasizing the coercive nature of the confined jetbridge setting, the retention of identification and boarding passes, and the pressure created by the post-9/11 travel environment. Individual officers retained qualified immunity, but claims against the county proceeded.
In July 2026, the parties reached a settlement. Clayton County agreed to end jetbridge interdictions, stops that seize identification or boarding passes, questioning about drugs in that setting, and related bag searches. The case did not produce a broad ruling on racial profiling claims, but it forced a concrete change in practice and underscored how cash seizures often outpaced actual drug findings.
Why This Case Matters for Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Rights
Civil asset forfeiture allows the government to seize property it claims is connected to criminal activity; sometimes without filing criminal charges against the owner. The proceeding is against the property itself. Owners must then fight to get their money or assets back, often under tight deadlines and with the practical burden of proving legitimate sources.
The Atlanta case illustrates several recurring problems:
- Stops framed as voluntary or “random” can become coercive when officers control the only path to the plane, hold travel documents, and create pressure to consent or miss a flight.
- Large cash seizures can occur with minimal or no evidence of drugs.
- The financial incentive of forfeiture can encourage quantity of seizures over quality of investigation.
Courts have long recognized that the mere presence of cash is not itself evidence of a crime. Yet airport interdiction programs have repeatedly tested the boundaries of the Fourth Amendment. Outcomes like the André-English settlement help constrain practices that treat traveling with cash as inherently suspicious and reinforce that travelers retain constitutional protections even after TSA screening.
Your Rights When Traveling with Cash
Carrying cash on domestic flights is legal. There is no federal limit on the amount you may transport within the United States. The well-known $10,000 reporting requirement applies only to international travel (FinCEN Form 105). Failing to declare currency or monetary instruments exceeding $10,000 when entering or leaving the country can lead to seizure.
Key rights include:
- You generally have the right to refuse consent to a search of your person or belongings by local or federal law enforcement beyond TSA’s security screening authority. Clearly state that you do not consent.
- You have the right to remain silent and to request an attorney. You are not required to explain the source of your funds on the spot.
- If money is seized, you are entitled to a receipt documenting the amount, date, agency, and reason for the seizure.
- Civil forfeiture notices trigger short response windows, often 30 to 35 days or similar periods depending on the agency and statute. Missing a deadline can result in permanent loss of the property through administrative default.
TSA screeners themselves lack authority to seize cash for forfeiture. In practice, they may alert DEA agents, local police, or other law enforcement who then pursue the seizure under civil forfeiture statutes such as 18 U.S.C. § 981. The government must eventually meet its burden, but the process is stacked against unrepresented owners. Many people never recover their money because they miss deadlines, cannot afford counsel, or accept unfavorable administrative resolutions.
Why Legal Counsel Is Critical to Recovering Seized Assets
Asset forfeiture cases move quickly and involve specialized procedures. Notices can be technical. Administrative petitions sometimes lead owners into processes that favor the seizing agency. Filing a timely verified claim can force the government into court under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act and start strict timelines that require the government to file a complaint or return the property.
An experienced attorney can evaluate whether the stop and search violated the Fourth Amendment, challenge probable cause or the nexus between the cash and alleged criminal activity, assert innocent-owner defenses, raise Eighth Amendment excessiveness arguments, and negotiate returns or partial settlements.
Documentation of legitimate sources, such as bank records, business records, tax filings, or other evidence, must often be assembled and presented strategically. Without counsel, many owners simply lose the money by default.
Time is the most important factor. Early intervention preserves options that disappear once deadlines pass or the government’s narrative solidifies.
How Padula Law Can Help
Padula Law focuses on high-stakes asset forfeiture and criminal defense matters for individuals and companies nationwide. Founding attorney Michael Padula previously served as a trial attorney in the Money Laundering and Bank Integrity Unit of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. That experience provides direct insight into how federal agencies investigate, seize, and forfeit assets; and how those efforts can be effectively challenged.
The firm handles civil and criminal forfeiture cases involving cash, financial accounts, vehicles, real property, and other assets. Representation includes evaluating the legality of the seizure, meeting strict claim deadlines, asserting constitutional and statutory defenses, negotiating with prosecutors and agencies, and litigating when necessary.
Traveling with your own money should not put you at risk of losing it without due process. Cases like the Atlanta jetbridge settlement show that pushback can change practices. Knowing your rights and securing skilled counsel when those rights are tested remains the strongest protection available. Early, experienced representation is often the difference between permanent loss and recovery of your assets.
If your cash or other property has been seized at an airport or elsewhere, or if you have received a forfeiture notice, contact Padula Law promptly for a confidential consultation. Call (888) 574-5155 today.