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Oregon
Supreme
Court
to
Review
Forfeiture
as
Double
Jeopardy
4/24/99
The Oregon Supreme Court
recently agreed to review State vs. Selness, which concerns a 1994 marijuana
arrest. In that case, the defendant's home was forfeited along with
his receiving jail time. The defendant claims that his punishment
was unconstitutional, on the grounds that it was a case of double jeopardy.
The United States Constitution
protects citizens from double jeopardy: being punished for the same offense
twice. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that civil forfeiture is
not a punishment, and therefore does not constitute double jeopardy.
The Oregon State Constitution has a wider view on double jeopardy, however,
and the Oregon Supreme Court has never previously ruled on civil forfeiture
as a form of punishment, leaving the possibility that the court may rule
in favor of the defendant.
One day prior to the Court's
agreement to review State vs. Selness, the Oregon Court of Appeals overturned
a previous ruling in a lower court that stated that the practice of excluding
drug offenders from certain neighborhoods prior to sentencing is double
jeopardy.
(Visit Forfeiture Endangers
American Rights, online at http://www.fear.org,
for much more information about asset forfeiture. The Cato Institute
is sponsoring a half-day conference, "Forfeiture Reform: Now, or Never?",
on May 3, 9:00am - 1:30pm, Washington, DC, featuring US Rep. Henry J. Hyde,
ACLU's Ira Glasser, and others. For further information, visit http://www.cato.org/events/ccs99/
on the web, call (202)218-4633 or e-mail forfeit@cato.org.
-- END --
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Issue #88, 4/24/99
HEA Reform Campaign Gets Boost | Report: District of Columbia Drug Policy a Disaster | Heroin in Australia: A Conversation with Brian McConnell of Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform | North Dakota Becomes First State to Legalize Hemp Cultivation | Oregon Supreme Court to Review Forfeiture as Double Jeopardy | BOOK: NO Equal Justice, Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System | Report: In Search of a New Ethic for Treating Patients with Chronic Pain | Seminar in NYC, Friday 28-May
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