Civil Forfeiture

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Criminal

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: EASTERBROOK, WILLIAMS, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges

Civil Forfeiture 

No. 14-3451 United States of America v. Funds in the amount of $239,400

Where state improperly persuaded the district court to require claimants to prove their claims to disputed currency were legitimate as condition of standing.

“The procedural framework for civil forfeiture actions makes it particularly important that standing serve a “truly threshold” function in these cases. See United States v. $557,933.89, More or Less, in U.S. Funds, 287 F.3d 66, 79 (2d Cir. 2002) (Sotomayor, J.). To the extent there is overlap between a tort plaintiff proving causation as an element of his cause of action and proving causation as an element of his standing to pursue that cause of action in federal court, we know that the “plaintiff bears the burden of proof” as to both and must produce “the manner and degree of evidence required at the successive stages of the litigation.” Id., quoting Lujan, 504 U.S. at 561. “It must be remembered, however, that in a civil forfeiture action the government is the plaintiff, and it is the government’s right to forfeiture that is the sole cause of action adjudicated.” Id. “If the government fails to meet its burden of proof … the claimant need not produce any evidence at all.” Id. Standing must be clearly separated from the merits in civil forfeiture cases so that the government is not relieved of its burden to “prove that property is subject to forfeiture.” See $125,938.62, 537 F.3d at 1293.”

Reversed and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.