1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Contesting the Seizure of Vehicles Under Civil Forfeiture: What Process Is Due? March 16, 2021 In September 2015, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seized Gerardo Serranos F-250 pic
2、kup truck at the U.S.-Mexico border for allegedly attempting to smuggle “munitions of war.” CBP held the vehicle for almost two years while Serrano contested its forfeiture. Serrano sued the agency, arguing that the Due Process Clause requires the government to provide a prompt, post-seizure judicia
3、l hearing before confiscating property under federal civil forfeiture laws. Conducting the balancing test required under prevailing Supreme Court precedent, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ultimately held in Serrano v. Customs and Border Patrol that the existing legal proces
4、s provided under the federal civil forfeiture laws was sufficient to satisfy due process. This decision is in some tension with a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which invalidated a New York City civil forfeiture law for failing to provide independent judicial
