Aravanis v. Somerset County

BELL, Judge.

We granted certiorari to consider whether Maryland’s drug forfeiture statute, Maryland Code (1957, 1992 Repl.Vol.), Article 27, § 297, is subject to an excessive fines analysis pursuant to the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,1 and/or its Maryland counterpart, Article 25 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.2 We are also invited, should we find the analysis appropriate, to formulate a test for determining when a particular forfeiture is unconstitutionally excessive. We shall hold that civil in rem forfeitures are subject to an excessive fines analysis.…