Court case continues with intentions to end ‘unconstitutional forfeiture notices’
The FBI returned a Los Angeles woman’s life savings — money she was keeping to buy a house — after seizing it two years earlier with no explanation.
Despite never being charged with a crime, the FBI seized Linda Martin’s safe deposit box during a March 2021 raid through administrative forfeiture, a move that enables federal agencies to seize property without judicial involvement. She went years without explanation, but her $40,200 was returned in July after she filed a nationwide class action lawsuit with the Institute for Justice (IJ) in March 2023.
“I’m relieved to finally have my savings back, but it has been a confusing and frustrating process from the moment it was taken,” Martin said in a statement IJ released in July.