The Development of Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States

Stefan D. Cassella, US Dept of Justice

Abstract

This chapter, written for a foreign audience unfamiliar with U.S. constitutional law, traces the history of the development of asset forfeiture law in the United States from the 18th Century to present, with focus on the constitutional issues that had to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court. A similar study appears as Chapter 2 of the author's treatise Asset Forfeiture Law in the United States.