News Roundup

It's been awhile since my last update so this will be a big one.

• The most important news is the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Kaley v. United States, which has received fairly wide coverage in the media since it was issued in late February. The petitioners in the case attempted to challenge the government's pre-trial seizure of their home and a $500,000 certificate of deposit that were allegedly tied to the sale of stolen property. The Kaleys wanted to challenge the the seizure on the basis of a lack of evidence to support the underlying criminal charges, not the property's connection to the alleged criminal conduct. The Supreme Court decided against the Kaleys, ruling that they could not challenge the grand jury's finding of probable cause that was used by the government to support the seizure. I'll have more analysis on this case next week, but until then you can read coverage of the case at Slate, Reason, and Forbes.

• In addition to their coverage of the Kaley decision, Slate also ran an article about state and local law enforcement in states like Washington and Colorado taking part in the equitable sharing program despite recent changes in their jurisdiction'ss marijuana laws.

•  The US has frozen more than $458 million connected to former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. It's being heralded as the largest kleptocracy related forfeiture in history. 

• The Hudson Valley Reporter has a report on the use of forfeiture by law enforcement in Putnam County, New York. The paper reports that Putnam's asset forfeiture unit "oversaw a total of 130 forfeiture cases, most of them involving vehicles. While most defendants chose to forfeit the value of their vehicles, 17 were sold at auction, and 14 were released to lien holders after payment of administrative fees. Fifteen cases involved the forfeiture of cash proceeds of crimes."

•  The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, based in Michigan, has a posted a brief statement that summarizes their view on asset forfeiture.

• The Livingston Daily has a piece on a developing lawsuit regarding the seizure and attempted forfeiture of more than $100,000 in cash from two Michigan businesses. The businesses alleged crime? Routinely making cash deposits totalling less than less than $10,000, the amount which triggers a report to the federal government. The practice is known as "structuring", essentially purposefully depositing money in a way to avoid notice by the federal government.

• Forfeiture is being scrutinized in Nevada after two lawsuits were filed against the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's deputies seized $50,000 in cash and two cashier's checks from one man and $13,800 in cash and a .40 caliber handgun from another. No arrests were made, no drugs were found, and no charges have been filed against the property owners.