The Arizona Supreme Court becomes the first state Supreme Court to thoroughly incorporate crime victims' rights in its rules of criminal procedure. Others should follow.
Unlike civil forfeiture, U.S. criminal forfeiture laws have never been reformed at the federal level. Congressman Henry Hyde (R–IL), who served as chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary from January 1995 to January 2001, decided to focus solely on civil forfeiture reform a decision made to avoid a new round of fights with the Department of Justice (DOJ) that would have held up enactment of Hyde’s reform bill, the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA).[1]