Commonwealth v. Allen

The Court presently approves the transfer of legal title to private property to the government absent notice or process reflected on the present record, and it allows for such transfer at the end of a 30-day limitations. period immediately following jeopardy. I respectfully dissent.

The right to acquire, possess, and protect property is deeply engrained in the federal and Pennsylvania Constitutions. See, e.g., Pa. Const, art. I, § 1. Correspondingly, the presumption that, if reasonably possible, title to property should remain with, or be restored to, its rightful owner is strengthened by…