The Dispute Index

Steve Marshall

Portrait of Steve Marshall
Office of Rep. Mo Brooks (repmobrooks on Flickr), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsSourceCC BY-SA 2.0Cropped from the original Flickr photo AG Marshall and Brooks at subcommittee hearing (https://www.flickr.com/photos/58533574@N04/41773693585/). No other changes.

Steve Marshall is a Republican lawyer who has served as attorney general of Alabama since February 2017. Before becoming the state's chief law enforcement officer, he was district attorney for Marshall County, Alabama, for 16 years.

Officeholder (2017 to present)Also known as Steven T. Marshall, Steven MarshallWebsite (opens in a new tab)
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What DI has documented

DI has documented statements by Steve Marshall on Criminal Justice Policy and Law Enforcement. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.

Topics in this coverage

Statements by Steve Marshall

Portrait of Steve Marshall

Steve Marshall

Role at the time: Attorney general of Alabama, in a news release from his office

Defended or excused

Statement summary

After the ruling, Marshall said the Court had affirmed Alabama's earlier wins and confirmed that law enforcement respected the owners' constitutional rights.

“The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed our previous victories in these cases. Law enforcement officers across Alabama work hard every day to keep their fellow citizens safe while respecting their constitutional rights. And the Court confirmed that those rights were respected”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Alabama Attorney General news release: Attorney General Marshall wins U.S. Supreme Court case (May 10, 2024)Second paragraph, statement of Attorney General Steve Marshall.
Why we used this label

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. Marshall welcomes the ruling and says the process respected the owners' rights. The closest competing label is Minimized; it loses because he does not acknowledge a concern and then downplay it: he says the rights were respected.

Read statementSupreme Court rules due process does not require a preliminary hearing before a seized car is held for forfeiture
Portrait of Steve Marshall

Steve Marshall

Role at the time: Attorney general of Alabama, in the state respondents' Supreme Court brief filed by his office

Defended or excused

Response to this claim

When a government seizes personal property for civil forfeiture, a timely forfeiture proceeding provides all the process the Constitution requires, so owners have no right to a separate interim retention hearing.

“When a government seizes personal property for civil forfeiture, a timely judicial forfeiture proceeding provides all the process that is due.”
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Brief for the state respondents, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall et al., No. 22-585 (August 14, 2023)Summary of argument, Part I.A.
Why we used this label

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 state's brief argues directly that its process satisfied due process without a retention hearing. The closest competing label is Challenged characterization; it loses because the brief defends the practice on the merits rather than only disputing how the owners describe it.

Read statementSupreme Court rules due process does not require a preliminary hearing before a seized car is held for forfeiture

A participant is a subject of the case. A speaker has a statement documented in it. A commentator has an opinion or editorial documented in it.