Civil forfeiture goes on trial

Last week, Federal District Judge Eduardo Robreno gave the green light to a lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia for violating the due process rights of property owners through its civil forfeiture process. The judge certified as a class (for a class-action lawsuit) all Philadelphians who have had their property confiscated in this way since August 2012.

The Institute for Justice — the group that defended homeowners’ property rights in the Supreme Court’s Kelo v. New London case — filed this lawsuit against one of the most aggressive jurisdictions in America when it comes to taking away people’s property through this previously little-known process, whose profile has been raised in recent years by the Washington Post and HBO’s John Oliver.

Philadelphia acquired more than $72.6 million between 2002 and 2014 by taking it from citizens through this process. Part of the haul came in the form of cash — 8,284 currency forfeitures, averaging $550 each. In other cases, homes have been seized. That includes the $350,000 home of Christos Sourovelis, just because his adult son was busted on a minor drug charge. The rationale for the seizure was that the young man had used the home for drug dealing, which made it ripe for the city to confiscate.

This lawsuit has already gotten some tangible results. In 2015, when it was initially filed, the Philadelphia district attorney agreed to change some of its procedures for seizing real estate. (The Sourovelises also got their home back after being kicked out.) But that wasn’t enough to stop the case from going forward on other counts.

Also, unlike those class actions you read about where the lawyers are in it for the money on a contingency basis, this one will merely seek a declaratory judgment and a halt to forfeitures. If the class of plaintiffs succeeds, then those shaken down by the local government in Philly will remain free to sue for restitution and further damages.