Asset forfeiture is the involuntary relinquishment of money or property without compensation as a consequence of a commission of a crime. Forfeiture laws authorize prosecutors to file civil lawsuits asking a court for permission to take property from a criminal defendant that was eitherused in the crime orwas the fruit of a criminal act. Since the 1970s, federal asset forfeiture laws have been used against drug dealers. By 2000, however, there were many in Congress and the legal community who urged reform of these forfeiture laws, as they have been often resulted in harsh and unfair outcomes for innocent third parties.

In 1970, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, also known as the Forfeiture Act. The Forfeiture Act authorized federal prosecutors to bring civil forfeiture actions against certain properties owned by persons convicted of federal drug crimes. The act was not used much because...