Divided Supreme Court rules no quick hearing required when police seize property

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court has ruled that authorities do not have to provide a quick hearing when they seize cars and other property used in drug crimes, even when the property belongs to so-called innocent owners. By a 6-3 vote Thursday, the justices rejected the claims of two Alabama women who had to wait more than a year for their cars to be returned. Police had stopped the cars when they were being driven by other people and, after finding drugs, seized the vehicles. Civil forfeiture allows authorities to take someone’s property, without having to prove that it has been used for illicit purposes.