After police raided her apartment, Rochester resident Cristal Starling lost $8,000 to the U.S. government because of a missed deadline, despite never being charged with a crime. But last week, a federal appeals court revived her case.
The public interest law firm representing Starling, the Institute for Justice, says the ruling is a welcome check on civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize property suspected of being connected to criminal activity without charging the owner with a crime.
