The Fifth Amendment prohibits the government from seizing private property without "just compensation."
That's where eminent domain laws come from. If a public utility puts a sewer line through your yard, it can seize a strip of your property necessary for burying the line, but it has to compensate you for it, and you can go to court to determine the value of the land it took. Happens all the time.
But the federal government can't just seize 401ks and IRAs no matter how much it might want the money. It can amend the tax code to repeal the deductibility of retirement contributions, but it can't just confiscate retirement accounts. Even when FDR seized private gold holdings, the government paid a set price per ounce for the gold that was confiscated.
"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." |
