OAKLAND'S AUTO SEIZURE ORDINANCE PASSES TEST

State Supreme Court Declines To Review Aclu's Challenge

The California Supreme Court dramatically expanded forfeiture law
Wednesday, ruling that local governments can seize the vehicles of people
suspected of dealing drugs or soliciting prostitutes from a car.

The high court upheld a 1997 Oakland ordinance allowing such seizures even
if the suspect is not convicted. The law applies even if the owner wasn't
in the car and did not know of or support the crime.

After Wednesday's closely watched ruling, comparable seizure laws are
expected to be adopted by cities and counties across the state. Sacramento,
for one, already has a similar law. San Francisco lawmakers shelved the
idea last month after concluding it was unconstitutional.

Without comment, a majority of the high court's justices declined to review
the American Civil Liberties Union's challenge of the Oakland law. The ACLU
claimed among other things that similar laws would proliferate with cities
viewing them as moneymaking ventures.

Only justices Stanley Mosk and Joyce L. Kennard voted to review the case.

The city has seized about 300 cars under the law and keeps the profits from
their sale.

After a state appeals court ruling in July upheld the so-called ``nuisance
abatement'' law, nearly a dozen California cities contacted Oakland to
learn how they could enact their own similar seizure law, said Oakland
Deputy City Attorney Pelayo Llamas.

Oakland's ordinance is harsher than state and federal forfeiture laws.

The Legislature allows for the forfeiture of a vehicle used in drug sales
and prostitution, but forbids seizures if the owner was not aware of the
crime or if the car was a family's only mode of transportation

The state law applies only when large quantities of drugs are involved.
Oakland's ordinance allows seizures when a person is caught selling any
amount of drugs.

Congress this year added an ``innocent owner'' provision protecting owners
of vehicles used in crimes without their knowledge. Oakland seizes vehicles
even when owners don't know about the crime.

``It's an extraordinarily harsh statute,'' said Nina Wilder, a lawyer for
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, which had urged the justices to
nullify the ordinance. ``There is something un-American about this that
they can take your car without you doing anything wrong.''