Abstract
In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court in Austin v. United States held civil forfeiture pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881—the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act—to be subject to the limitations of the Excessive Fines Clause. The Court, however, declined to proffer a standard inquiry by which federal courts could determine the excessive nature of forfeitures, leaving the issue for lower courts to decide in the first instance. Following an examination of the substantive and procedural provisions of 21 U.S.C. § 881, this Note analyzes the three principal approaches utilized among the circuits to guide their review of civil forfeitures challenged as excessive: "instrumentality," "proportionality," and "multifactor" reviews. Finally, this Note advocates the imposition of exclusive instrumentality review for determining whether a forfeiture pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 881 is excessive under the Eighth Amendment.
How to Cite
38 Ariz. L. Rev. 999 (1996)
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