5 ms·
I've always found "US govt VS $200" type court cases to be ridiculous. Person vs Property.
by markdown 8y ago
I've always found "US govt VS $200" type court cases to be ridiculous.
Person vs Property.
- mehrdadn 8y agoAre they actually titled that way? That's hilarious.
- int_19h 8y agoYep, that's exactly how civil forfeiture works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States#/media/File:Civil_forfeiture_case_US_District_Court_Nebraska_2.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United...
- mehrdadn 8y agoWow. I knew civil forfeiture was a claim brought against a property but I didn't realize that's literally what they would write as the defendant. I can't believe judges take this seriously...
- pmyteh 8y agoThere's a long tradition of actions in rem (against 'the thing') in law, especially in admiralty actions. If you're, say, the Port Authority for a harbour, and a foreign ship fails to pay its harbour dues, what do you do? The owner is an ocean away (and difficult to enforce jurisdiction over) but the ship is sitting right there and can (if necessary) be seized and sold. Looking at it that way it makes a lot more sense.