Criminal & Administrative Forfeitures
The Law Offices of Hollander and Hanuka represent people from whom the state or federal governments are trying to take personal possessions or money because the possessions or money were allegedly used in or obtained from illegal activity.
As part of the 'War on Drugs,' state and federal governments passed laws letting them forfeit property, because the property was either used in committing a crime or the item was obtained through the commission of a crime. For example, if a bank robber uses his car to get to a bank, robs it, and then flees in the car, the car is subject to forfeiture. If a bank robber successfully robs a bank, and uses the stolen money to purchase a car, the car is subject to forfeiture. The forfeited items are then sold by the state or federal governments, and the money obtained is then used to fund on-going law enforcement projects.
In theory, forfeiture sounded reasonable. Unfortunately, this forfeiture ability led to two negative side-effects. First, because forfeitures produced money for cash-strapped law enforcement agencies, police began abusing their authority and violating citizen?s rights in order to seize and forfeit assets. Secondly, in order to ?help? the forfeitures, state legislatures and Congress passed laws whereby innocent persons could lose their interest in items the government seized to forfeit. An example of this is a case out of Michigan, where the U.S. Supreme Court held that it was legal for the state to forfeit a car jointly owned by a husband and wife, where the husband had sex with a prostitute in the car without the wife?s knowledge or consent, and to not even pay the wife for her interest in the car.
Forfeitures can be either administrative, civil or criminal. Administrative forfeitures are conducted by the federal agency (FBI, DEA, Customs, etc.) that seized the asset. Someone objecting to the forfeiture must elect between requesting a remission (return) of the item from the agency or filing a demand that the forfeiture be handled in court. For obvious reasons, throwing oneself at the mercy of a bureaucratic agency that benefits monetarily from the forfeiture, is not a recommended course of action. At least, if the forfeiture is handled in court, the judge will consider the claimant?s position as to why the item should not be forfeited at all, or that the claimant can receive compensation for their ownership in the item. Civil forfeitures proceed like other civil suits. Criminal forfeitures are part of criminal prosecutions, so that if a defendant is acquitted, the forfeiture ends. If the defendant is convicted, the jury will still have to determine whether the items are forfeitable as to the defendant himself/herself. An innocent claimant must wait until the criminal case is over before asserting their claim to the item.
Forfeiture law can be complex depending on the circumstances. We here at Hollander and Hanuka are ready and able to help you.