Games-Neely Ex Rel. West Virginia State Police v. 1175 Sam Mason Road Loacated in Mill Creek District

(Filed July 3, 2002)

As the majority opinion makes clear, forfeiture, in any form, is “a harsh, even dreadful, remedy” that courts greatly disfavor. State v. Cheney, 45 W.Va. 478, 480, 31 S.E. 920, 921 (1898). This includes the forfeiture of real or personal property under the Contraband Forfeiture Act.

The Forfeiture Act is to be strictly construed against the State because the act of taking property from an individual, particularly one who has not been adjudged guilty of a crime, is beyond a doubt draconian. The appellant, Hattie Sowers, was not charged, let alone convicted of a crime, yet…