An Examination of Civil Asset Forfeiture in South Carolina

Civil asset forfeiture allows the government to seize and forfeit property that is associated with criminal activity without arresting or charging the property owner. Although expansive in its potential application, little is understood about the characteristics of civil asset forfeiture cases, the property owners involved in forfeiture cases, or the characteristics of any criminal cases pursued parallel to the civil cases. Utilizing open-source, public court records, this dissertation provides an exploratory analysis of these gaps in the literature by examining the types of civil asset forfeiture used, the value of asset forfeiture cases, how money from asset forfeiture is divided by the seizing agencies, the criminal charges and criminal case dispositions associated with asset forfeiture cases, and the racial and ethnic groups most impacted by civil asset forfeiture. The findings provide evidence of a substantial racial disparity in the application of civil asset forfeiture and call into question the crime control justification for civil asset forfeiture.