Law Commons^™

Quo Vadis? Assessing New York’S Civil Forfeiture Law, Steven L. Kessler

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Police Or Pirates? Reforming Washington's Civil Asset Forfeiture System, Jasmin Chigbrow

Washington Law Review

Civil asset forfeiture laws permit police officers to seize property they suspect is connected to criminal activity and sell or retain the property for the police department’s use. In many states, including Washington, civil forfeiture occurs independent of any criminal case—many property owners are never charged with the offense police allege occurred. Because the government is not required to file criminal charges, property owners facing civil forfeiture lack the constitutional safeguards normally guaranteed to defendants in the criminal justice system: the right to an attorney, the presumption of innocence, the government’s burden to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, …

My Cash Is My Bond: Recognizing Rights To Cash Bail Forfeiture Exoneration In Washington, Olivia Hagel

Washington Law Review

When criminal defendants fail to appear for a court date after they are released on a bail bond or cash bail, Washington courts will likely forfeit their bail. And when the defendant reappears—whether a day, a month, or a year later—that same court might return, or “exonerate,” the bail bond or cash bail.

But Washington does not treat cash bail and bail bonds similarly in the context of forfeiture exoneration. Commercial bail bond agents enjoy robust statutory and judicial avenues for the return of their forfeited bail bonds. A little over one-hundred years ago, the Supreme Court of Washington treated …

The Case For Accountability & Transparency: How Corporate Asset Forfeiture Creates A Conflict Of Interest, Tiffany J. Klinger

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Asset forfeiture is a tool used by law enforcement to seize property or profits related to criminal activity. Due to the public's growing distain of asset forfeiture, congressional and state reform has attempted to curtail the use of civil asset forfeiture over the past twenty years. However, little attention has been given where asset forfeiture is used against corporations. This Note sheds light as to how asset forfeiture is used against the organizational defendant and makes the following observations: First, asset forfeiture is a powerful tool in corporate criminal proceedings; however, forfeiture lacks the procedural restraints that are placed on …

Only Presumed Unreliable: Proving Confrontation Forfeiture With Hearsay, Tim Donaldson

University of Denver Criminal Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Federal Criminal Forfeiture Statute: Reining In The Government’S Previously Unbridled Ability To Seize Pretrial Assets, Kristyn Fleming Francese

Pace Law Review

American organized crime movies are synonymous with a climatic raid and seizure of illegal assets – typically drugs and guns. But what is really encompassed within the Government’s grasp; what are the “illegal assets”? The truth is that the Government has a wide reach and the criminal seizures don’t end when the screen goes black and the credits roll. The Federal Criminal Forfeiture Statute, as applied to RICO and CCE cases, typically entails the forfeiture of any asset connected to the underlying crimes. Given that criminal forfeiture penalties have ethical and constitutional considerations, it is not surprising to learn that …

Testimony On Oklahoma Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform, Stephen E. Henderson

Stephen E Henderson

The Relevance Of Culpability To The Punishment And Prevention Of Crime, R. J. Spjut

Akron Law Review

It follows that if a legal system may fairly punish only a person who culpably violated the law, a preventive restraint like self-defense is also fair only when it is used against a person whose offense or imminent offense is culpable. Such measures as punishment and prevention are justified because "a person who violates the order of fairness, which can be described as a system of rights,forfeits certain of his own rights." The forfeiture theory implicitly associates A's loss of rights with his deserts and suggests some analogy with punishment. Finnis' argument both makes explicit the analogy and shifts attention …

Time-Bars: Rico-Criminal And Civil Federal And State, G. Robert Blakey

Notre Dame Law Review

The article discusses the role of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in criminal proceedings. The Act considers several provisions including illegal services of drugs and gambling, corruption in labor or management relations, and commercial fraud such as bankruptcy and securities fraud. The Act applies criminal and civil sanctions including fines and imprisonment, forfeiture, and treble damage relief for persons who injured in business due to violation of law.

Criminal Forfeiture Procedure In 2013: An Annual Survey Of Developments In The Case Law, Stefan D. Cassella

Stefan D Cassella

This is another in a series of articles on developments in the federal case law relating to criminal forfeiture procedure. It covers the cases decided in 2012 and early 2013. The article begins with the cases that illustrate the concept that criminal forfeiture is part of the defendant’s sentence in a criminal case. It then takes the reader more or less chronologically through the litigation of a case, beginning with the seizure and restraint of the property and continuing through the trial and sentencing of the defendant and the adjudication of third-party issues in the post-trial ancillary proceeding. Except in …

Civil Asset Recovery: The American Experience, Stefan D. Cassella

Stefan D Cassella

The article traces the American experience with the civil, or non-conviction-based, forfeiture of the proceeds and instruments of crime, with an eye toward how that experience might inform the drafting of similar legislation in the non-common law countries of the European Union.

Confiscación Sobre El Producto Indirecto Del Delito En El Sistema De Prevención Del Lavado De Activos / Confiscation Of Indirect Proceeds Of Crime In The Anti-Money Laundering Legal Framework, Tadeo Leandro Fernandez

Tadeo Leandro Fernandez

The aim of this paper is to describe the international recommendations on prevention of money laundering about confiscation of the proceeds of crime, in particular the indirect proceeds. In that sense, for this purpose we propose to use the term confiscation as a generic of forfeiture, restitution, damage repair, and reset to the previous state, i.e. we include forfeiture rules (Section 23 and 305) and damage repair (Title IV of Book I) of the Criminal Code and we also note national case law that share this idea. Last, we conclude that current Argentine system allows confiscating the direct and indirect …

Introduction To Defending Civil Forfeiture Cases Under Chapter 59, Charles B. Frye

Charles B Frye

A general introduction to defending civil asset forfeiture cases in Texas state courts.

Criminal Procedure - United States V. $124,570 Us Currency: Disinfecting Administrative Airport Security Searches, Gary Garrigues

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Running With United States V. Totaro: Should Divorce Law Preserve Innocent Non-Owner Spouses’ Rights In Property Subject To Federal Criminal Forfeiture?, Matthew Jordan Cochran

Matthew Jordan Cochran

In United States v. Totaro, the Eighth Circuit called for an application of New York divorce law in dividing between the government's interest and that of the innocent Adrienne Totaro in property subjected to forfeiture by her husband's RICO offenses. Adrienne owned legal title to a portion of the property. But shouldn't the law also protect innocent spouses who do not hold title?

By requiring judges to give weight to the marital contributions of the homemaker spouse and not just the breadwinner, equitable distribution and community property regimes in most states address the hardship historically imposed on women by …

Monetary Recoveries For State Crime Victims , Jeffrey A. Parness, Edmund Laube, Laura Lee

Cleveland State Law Review

In this Article, we explore the constitutional, statutory, and common law foundations of the three recovery avenues available to crime victims. We also explore the federal-state and interstate differences in these avenues, along with the associated barriers to recovery. Finally, we propose better ways in which to facilitate state crime victim recoveries.

Animal Law, K. Michelle Welch

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ontario (Attorney General) V. $29, 020 In Canadian Currency: A Comment On Proceeds Of Crime And Provincial Civil Forfeiture Laws, Michelle Gallant

Michelle Gallant

Many provinces are embracing a modern approach to crime control, an approach which uses civil proceedings, primarily a device known as forfeiture, to tackle criminal activity. The strategy targets the financial underpinnings of crime, the proceeds or the assets linked to illegal activity. It effectively gives the public actor the ability to use civil actions to recover financial resources tainted by criminality.

New to provincial law, this convergence of civil proceedings and crime, of civil forfeiture and the financial element of crime, invites obvious questions about the consistency of this approach with constitutional norms. On the jurisdictional front, there is …

A Round Peg In A Square Hole: Federal Forfeiture Of State Professional Licenses, Wesley Oliver

Wesley M Oliver

No abstract provided.

United States V. One 1973 Rolls Royce: The Confusion Continues In Interpreting Drug Forfeiture Statutes, Patricia A. O'Neill

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Forfeiture Of Marital Property Under 21 U.S.C. 881(A)(7): Irreconcilable Differences, Anne-Marie Feeley

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rico Forfeitures As Excessive Fines Or Cruel And Unusual Punishments, Kathleen F. Brickey

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Constitutional Infirmity Of Rico Forfeiture

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Forfeiture Of Attorneys' Fees Under Rico And Cce And The Right To Counsel Of Choice: The Constitutional Dilemma And How To Avoid It, Bruce J. Winick

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Note: United States V. Harvey: Are Criminal Defense Fees More Vulnerable Than Necessary?, Eric Easton

All Faculty Scholarship

In United States v. Harvey, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that Congress may not constitutionally require convicted racketeers and drug traffickers to forfeit property used to pay legitimate defense attorney fees. To the extent that such forfeitures and related pre-conviction restraints on transfer are authorized by provisions of the Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984 (the Act), those provisions violate an accused's right to counsel of choice as secured by the Sixth Amendment.This article argues that the court's holding in Harvey was more narrowly drawn than necessary, and that as a consequence criminal defense attorney …

In Re Forfeiture Of The Following Described Vehicle, 1972 Porsche 2 Dr., '74 Florida License Tag Id 91788 Vin #9111200334, 307 So. 2d 451 (Fla. 3d Dist. Ct. App. 1975), Michael P. Mabile

Florida State University Law Review

Criminal Law- FORFEITURES- SIGNIFICANT INVOLVEMENT IN ILLICIT DRUG OPERATION REQUIRED TO JUSTIFY AUTOMOBILE FORFEITURE; EVIDENCE OBTAINED BY ILLEGAL SEARCH INADMISSIBLE IN FORFEITURE PROCEEDING; IMPOUNDMENT OF AUTOMOBILE WITHOUT WARRANT IN ABSENCE OF PROBABLE CAUSE AND EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES INVALIDATES RELATED INVENTORY SEARCH.