Lewis Curtis Woodard v. Alabama, et al.

The Constitution of the United States does not merely authorize the exercise of governmental power; it restrains that power. The Fourth Amendment protects the people against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a State from depriving any person of property without due process of law. Those constitutional guarantees do not expire once the government acquires possession of private property. Rather, they continue to govern every exercise of governmental authority from the inception of an investigation through the permanent deprivation of private property by civil forfeiture. This case presents recurring and exceptionally important questions concerning the continuing application of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to state civil forfeiture proceedings. The questions presented are: Whether the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures continues to restrain governmental authority throughout the investigation, search, seizure, continued retention, examination, and permanent forfeiture of private property in a state civil forfeiture proceeding. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permits a State to permanently deprive a citizen of private property without first providing meaningful judicial consideration of preserved federal constitutional objections concerning the legality of the governmental conduct upon which the forfeiture is based. Whether a State may constitutionally acquire permanent title to private property where the forfeiture judgment rests upon governmental conduct alleged to violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Whether this Court should grant certiorari to reaffirm that constitutional protections remain fully operative throughout every stage of a civil forfeiture proceeding and that governmental authority remains continuously subject to the limitations imposed by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.