US Supreme Court upholds civil forfeiture without immediate hearing
Jurist News
Gijs de Bra
Cornell Law School, US
May 10, 2024 01:38:50 pm
The US Supreme Court decided Thursday that police officers may continue to seize cars that defendants allegedly use to commit a crime, without an immediate hearing. States often allow that kind of seizure—known as civil forfeiture—when officers believe that the car is connected to a crime in which the owner is not involved.
Justice Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, noted that the constitutional right to due process depends on the circumstances. States cannot take real property without a prior hearing, but personal property is different because it could be hidden before a hearing takes place. So when police officers seize cars, the owner only has a right to a timely hearing after the seizure, and not a prompt one, according to the Court.
The car owners in this case had argued that due process does give them a right to a prompt hearing under Mathews v. Eldridge.
In that case, the Court created a test that balances the ...
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