The highest court in the United States, the Supreme Court, made a decision about seized property. This happened because of a case involving two cars taken by the police in Alabama. Even though the owners didn’t do anything wrong, the police took their cars because of suspected criminal activity.
The cars were a 2015 Nissan Altima and a 2012 Chevrolet Sonic. The owners of these cars were not charged with any crime, but their cars were still taken. They waited for a long time to get their cars back. They wanted a fast hearing to get their property back, but they didn’t get it.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday, saying that there’s no need for a quick hearing to return seized property. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is part of the conservative majority in the court, wrote that the Constitution doesn’t demand these quick hearings.
He said that while a proper hearing is needed to decide if the police were right to take the cars, it doesn’t have to happen right away. This means innocent owners might have to wait weeks or months to get their property back.
The case involved two women. Halima Culley lent her car to her son, who was in college. Lena Sutton lent her car to a friend. Both women waited a long time before they could get their cars back. They argued that they should have had a quick hearing to prove they were innocent owners.
But the court disagreed. Justice Kavanaugh said the Constitution doesn’t require this quick hearing. He also said that making the police go through another hearing before the main one would be too much.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch agreed with the majority, but he said the court should think more about how these rules affect people’s rights. He hoped that in future cases, the court would consider this more carefully.
