摘要：Each year Americans spend almost eighty billion dollars on illegal drugs. The government's ability to confiscate property is perhaps its most powerful weapon in battling illegal drug trafficking. Amendments to Maryland's forfeiture provision have recently expanded the categories of forfeitable property. In this article, the author analyzes the amendments, with an emphasis on the fourth amendment limitations on forfeitures. The author concludes that the seizure of property for forfeiture requires a warrant or an exception to the warrant requirement, and that the exclusionary rule provides an ineffective remedy for fourth amendment violations in the forfeiture context. The author contends that the dismissal of a forfeiture should be the remedy for illegal seizures of forfeitable property.
