Opinion ID: 1906647
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Intended Purpose of the Fourth Amendment

Text: Both parties in this appeal argue that the exclusionary rule should or should not be applied to section 297 depending on whether the Legislature intended the law to be punitive. Respondent, arguing the law is not intended to be punitive, relies on Ursery, 518 U.S. at 292, 116 S.Ct. at 2149, 135 L.Ed.2d 549, which held that civil in rem forfeitures, particularly under 21 U.S.C. § 881, the federal equivalent to section 297, are not punitive for purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause. In opposition, petitioner relies on Aravanis v. Somerset County, 339 Md. 644, 664 A.2d 888 (1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1115, 116 S.Ct. 916, 133 L.Ed.2d 846 (1996), which held that [section] 297... is, like [21 U.S.C.] §§ 881(a)(4) and (a)(7), a punitive statute, the purpose of which is to require `direct payment to a sovereign as punishment for some offense,' under the Excessive Fines Clause contained in Article 25 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Id. at 655, 664 A.2d at 893 (quoting Browning-Ferris Indus. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc., 492 U.S. 257, 265, 109 S.Ct. 2909, 2915, 106 L.Ed.2d 219 (1989)). Aravanis was premised largely on Austin v. United States, 509 U.S. 602, 622, 113 S.Ct. 2801, 2812, 125 L.Ed.2d 488 (1993), which held that the Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines Clause applies to a federal civil forfeiture action under 21 U.S.C. § 881 because of the statute's punitive nature. See also Bajakajian v. United States, 524 U.S. 321,____, 118 S.Ct. 2028, 2033, 141 L.Ed.2d 314 (1998) (Forfeiturespayments in kindare thus `fines' if they constitute punishment for an offense.). The determination of whether the prophylactic, judicially-created exclusionary rule applies to a civil in rem forfeiture action is not based on whether the forfeiture statute was intended to be punitive. Rather, because the federal exclusionary rule remedies certain violations of the Fourth Amendment, but is not coextensive with it, we must determine whether the Fourth Amendment was intended to apply to proceedings outside the scope of a criminal trial. Although the purpose of the exclusionary rule may be to curb improper police conduct, the purpose of the Fourth Amendment is to insure the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.... It protects everybody, not just those of the criminal milieu, and, thus, is not limited to criminal proceedings. This issue was discussed by the Supreme Court in Austin, 509 U.S. at 608 n. 4, 113 S.Ct. at 2804-05 n. 4, 125 L.Ed.2d 488: As a general matter, this Court's decisions applying constitutional protections to civil forfeiture proceedings have adhered to th[e] distinction between [constitutional] provisions that are limited to criminal proceedings and provisions that are not. Thus, the Court has held that the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures applies in forfeiture proceedings, [citing Plymouth Sedan and Boyd ], but that the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause does not, see United States v. Zucker, 161 U.S. 475, 480-482, 16 S.Ct. 641, 643, 40 L.Ed. 777 (1896). It has also held that the due process requirement that guilt in a criminal proceeding be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, see In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970), does not apply to civil forfeiture proceedings. See Lilienthal's Tobacco v. United States, 97 U.S. 237, 271-272, 24 L.Ed. 901 (1878). The Double Jeopardy Clause has been held not to apply in civil forfeiture proceedings, but only in cases where the forfeiture could properly be characterized as remedial. See United States v. One Assortment of 89 Firearms, 465 U.S. 354, 364, 104 S.Ct. 1099, 1105, 79 L.Ed.2d 361 (1984); One Lot Emerald Cut Stones v. United States, 409 U.S. 232, 237, 93 S.Ct. 489, 493, 34 L.Ed.2d 438 (1972); see generally United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 446-449, 109 S.Ct. 1892, 1900-1902, 104 L.Ed.2d 487 (1989) (Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits second sanction that may not fairly be characterized as remedial). Conversely, the Fifth Amendment's Self-Incrimination Clause, which is textually limited to criminal case[s], has been applied in civil forfeiture proceedings, but only where the forfeiture statute had made the culpability of the owner relevant, see United States v. United States Coin & Currency, 401 U.S. 715, 721-722, 91 S.Ct. 1041, 1045, 28 L.Ed.2d 434 (1971), or where the owner faced the possibility of subsequent criminal proceedings, see Boyd, 116 U.S., at 634, 6 S.Ct., at 534; see also United States v. Ward, 448 U.S. 242, 253-254, 100 S.Ct. 2636, 2644, 65 L.Ed.2d 742 (1980) (discussing Boyd ). And, of course, even those protections associated with criminal cases may apply to a civil forfeiture proceeding if it is so punitive that the proceeding must reasonably be considered criminal. See Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144, 83 S.Ct. 554, 9 L.Ed.2d 644 (1963); Ward, supra . [Emphasis added.] The Supreme Court as late as 1993 in Austin noted that the Fourth Amendment's provisions were not limited to criminal proceedings, but, that the Confrontation Clause, the due process reasonable doubt standard, double jeopardy, and self-incrimination provisions were so limited. It clearly distinguished the applicability of these various provisions, squarely refusing to limit the Fourth Amendment's provisions to criminal cases, relying on Plymouth Sedan and Boyd in the process. The Court thus clearly implied in Austin that although the exclusionary rule is a judicially-created remedy intended to apply primarily to criminal and quasi-criminal proceedings, the Fourth Amendment applies to all unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, regardless of context. See United States v. James Daniel Good Real Property, 510 U.S. 43, 51, 114 S.Ct. 492, 500, 126 L.Ed.2d 490 (1993) (It is true, of course, that the Fourth Amendment applies to searches and seizures in the civil context and may serve to resolve the legality of these governmental actions without reference to other constitutional provisions.). Some administrative proceedings, although civil in nature, also can involve evidence that an administrative agency has searched for and seized while inspecting private property. Several Maryland statutes grant administrative agencies the right to seek search warrants to inspect private property. See Md.Code (1992, 1998 Repl. Vol.), § 3-205 of the Business Regulation Article (amusement attractions); Md.Code (1982, 1996 Repl.Vol.), § 7-256.1 of the Environment Article (controlled hazardous substances); Md.Code (1991, 1998 Cum.Supp.), § 5.5-113 of the Labor & Employment Article (railroad safety and health conditions); § 6-105 of the Labor & Employment Article (high voltage power lines); Md.Code (1957, 1996 Repl.Vol.), Art. 27, § 294 (controlled dangerous substances); Md.Code (1957, 1997 Repl.Vol., ), Art. 38A, § 8A (State Fire Marshal); Md.Code (1957, 1998 Repl.Vol.), Art. 89, § 2A (miscellaneous health and safety inspections by the Division of Labor and Industry). This Court, relying on Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc., 436 U.S. 307, 98 S.Ct. 1816, 56 L.Ed.2d 305 (1978), held that search warrants sought pursuant to then Art. 89, section 2A were constitutionally valid only when based on probable cause. Fred W. Allnutt, Inc. v. Commissioner of Labor & Industry, 289 Md. 35, 50-51, 421 A.2d 1360, 1368 (1980). [8] That holding presumably applies to all statutorily authorized administrative search warrants. Although we realize that probable cause has somewhat different meanings in criminal and administrative contexts, see id. at 48-49, 421 A.2d at 1366-67, that Fourth Amendment protections apply to some administrative search warrants nonetheless demonstrates that the Fourth Amendment extends beyond traditional criminal cases. The Fourth Amendment is not limited by its language or its history to the context of criminal trials. Its goal is to insure freedom from unreasonable governmental searches and seizures of any nature. By contrast, the goal of the Double Jeopardy Clause is to prevent multiple punishments and prosecutions (textually and historically criminal punishments and prosecutions), Ursery, 518 U.S. at 273, 116 S.Ct. at 2139-40, 135 L.Ed.2d 549, and the goal of the Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines Clause is to prevent excessive punishments in the form of payments extracted by the government. See generally Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321, 118 S.Ct. 2028, 141 L.Ed.2d 314; Austin, 509 U.S. 602, 113 S.Ct. 2801, 125 L.Ed.2d 488. After Austin, therefore, a determination of whether a forfeiture statute is punitive in nature is only necessary when a double jeopardy or Eighth Amendment violation is alleged or when some other protections associated with criminal cases other than Fourth Amendment protections, are involved. Austin, 509 U.S. at 608 n. 4, 113 S.Ct. at 2804-05 n. 4, 125 L.Ed.2d 488 (citing Ward, 448 U.S. 242, 100 S.Ct. 2636, 65 L.Ed.2d 742; Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144, 83 S.Ct. 554, 9 L.Ed.2d 644). Fourth Amendment protections, therefore, apply regardless of the criminality of the conduct of the owner of the property or the use to which the property is put. As for other constitutional protections, a reviewing court should concern itself with whether the particular protection was intended to apply to the particular case before it. Often, this decision will be based on whether the particular constitutional protection was intended to be limited to criminal or civil matters. Thus, as noted in Austin, 509 U.S. at 608 n. 4, 113 S.Ct. at 2804 n. 4, 125 L.Ed.2d 488, the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause, the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, and the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, generally limited to criminal causes, do not apply to civil forfeitures. As noted, the Fourth Amendment lacks any such textual limitations. The Fourth Amendment applies, regardless of context, in cases in which the government allegedly has committed an unreasonable search or seizure or both.