For those of us with an interest in civil asset forfeiture, the case of Timbs v. Indiana was argued in front of SCOTUS yesterday, and observers have walked away with a positive impression of the proceedings. From Bloomberg News, among others:
Supreme Court justices signaled they will curb the power of cities and states to levy fines and seize property, hearing arguments in the case of a man trying to keep his Land Rover after he pleaded guilty to selling drugs. …
Justice Brett Kavanaugh said it was “too late in the day” to argue that states are exempt from particular parts of the Bill of Rights. Justice Neil Gorsuch said the only question was what exactly the excessive fines clause prohibits.
“Whatever it in fact is, it applies against the states, right?” he asked Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher. When Fisher hedged, Gorsuch added, “Really? Come on, general.” …
The liberals seemed similarly skeptical of the Indiana case as well. Ilya Somin, who writes about the proceedings in a readable manner here, sounds convinced that civil asset forfeiture will go down in flaming defeat.
Hurrah!
