Brett Kavanaugh on Criminal Justice Policy

The reference point is Alabama's practice, defended by Attorney General Steve Marshall, of holding seized cars until the civil forfeiture hearing without a separate preliminary hearing, which the owners argued the Due Process Clause requires. Label: Defended or excused. The majority opinion holds that this practice satisfies due process, because a timely forfeiture hearing is all the Constitution requires. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional; it loses because the opinion attaches no condition to that holding beyond the existing requirement that the forfeiture hearing be timely.