United States v. 817 N.E. 29th Drive

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

These appeals arise out of the Government’s attempt to obtain forfeiture of two parcels of land. The claimant, Charles Howerin, resisted the forfeiture. The district court split the difference and ordered forfeiture of one of the two parcels. The parties’ appeals of that decision force us to confront two relatively uncharted areas of forfeiture law: (1) the appropriate definition of “property” under the relevant forfeiture statute, and (2) when a forfeiture constitutes an excessive fine in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Based on our resolution of those issues, we…