<p><a title="Email Brent Johnson" href="mailto:bljohnson@widener.edu">Brent Johnson</a></p>
<p>On Thursday, January 22, Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court delivered her second lecture since becoming the jurist in residence at Widener Law Commonwealth one year ago.<br /><br />The lecture, hosted by Widener's<a href="ipl://391//W10="> Law and Government Institute</a>, focused on the current state of civil forfeiture law in Pennsylvania. Beginning with a brief recounting of the history of forfeiture laws, Leavitt explained to the audience that the concept of forfeiture began in biblical times, with criminal forfeiture dating to the Middle Ages and statutory forfeiture originating in admiralty law.<br /><br />In Pennsylvania, much of civil forfeiture arises from the war on drugs beginning in the 1970's. Currently, under the Controlled Substances Act, there does not need to be any property rights affected before authorities can initiate forfeiture proceedings, bringing up Constitutional questions about due process under the 5th Amendment and excessive fines under the 8th Amendment. Based on recent US Supreme Court decisions, the Pennsylvania courts have decided that civil forfeiture does in fact have limits, and the value of the forfeiture in question can trigger an 8th amendment analysis.<br /><br />The event was well-attended by law students, alumni, and members of the local bench and bar, and the tone of the presentation was kept light as Judge Leavitt inserted a clip from John Oliver's HBO series 'Last Week Tonight' which poked fun at the sometimes ridiculous consequences of a government's civil forfeiture powers left unchecked.</p>