Defining What's Excessive In Police Property Seizures Remains Tricky
The Supreme Court ruled that seizing a $42,000 Land Rover was an "excessive fine" in a recent landmark decision on civil asset forfeiture. Future rulings will have to further define that term.
Tyson Timbs won his Supreme Court case in February, but he still doesn't have his Land Rover.
"I want my truck back, I've always wanted it back," says Timbs, whose Land Rover was seized by police in Indiana. They took it after he was arrested for selling a small amount of heroin to undercover cops; he served a period of house arrest and probation for the drug crime, punishments he accepted.
But Timbs never accepted that police were also entitled to his $42,000 vehicle, which he'd bought with proceeds from an insurance settlement.
"I thought it was kind of ridiculous that they could
