Defense attorneys say that the Texas decision is a sign of things to come.
They note that recent Congressional and Department of Justice movements to reform forfeiture procedures indicates a new attitude toward protecting people from overly zealous prosecutors and police. It's not a surprise if you follow the history of the cases and the examples of abuse the courts have been seeing. Allan Curry, the prosecutor appealing the decision in Fant , said that the case could force prosecutors to choose between prosecuting a defendant or confiscating his assets. This could lead to a dual standard where wealthy defendants would have their assets confiscated, but avoid incarceration, and poor defendants would be incarcerated, due to the lack of sizable assets that motivate law enforcement to conduct forfeiture proceedings. Mr. Curry said that he believes Fant is the first state case in the nation to hold that forfeiture was a punishment subject to jeopardy limitations.