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Forfeitures Revisited: Bringing Principle To Practice In Federal Court, David Pimentel

David Pimentel

Dramatically expanded use of federal forfeitures since the 1980s has raised persistent concerns about government overreaching in the seizure of private property. The Supreme Court failed to address the problem in Bennis v. Michigan (1996), upholding the forfeiture of property of an entirely innocent owner, relying on the ancient and unconvincing principle that the property itself is guilty. Congress stepped in to curb law enforcement’s worst abuses of this lucrative practice in 2000, but the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act was a patchwork effort that tweaked the rules without revisiting the unsatisfying policies behind them. Thus a comprehensive, policy-based re-examination …