APPEALS COURT AFFIRMS OAKLAND VEHICLE FORFEITURE ORDINANCE

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Oakland and other California cities may seize
vehicles whose drivers are believed to be buying drugs or soliciting
prostitution, a state appeals court ruled late Monday.

In squashing a civil suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union,
the 1st District Court of Appeal said a 1997 Oakland city ordinance did not
violate any constitutional provisions and did not conflict with state law.

The ordinance allows police to confiscate vehicles suspected of being used
to acquire any amount of illegal drugs or solicit prostitution, and allows
the city to keep the vehicle without having to show that the owner knew it
was being used for a crime.

Owners of confiscated vehicles must file a claim for the car. To keep the
car, the city must show that it was more likely than not that the car was
used for the specified illegal purpose. Oakland has seized more than 350
vehicles under the ordinance in the last two years.

A forfeiture case is separate from any criminal drug or solicitation of
prostitution charge, which must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, a
higher standard.

Last year, Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a bill that sought to stop the seizures.
The bill, AB662 by Assemblyman Herb Wesson, D-Los Angeles, would have
required local forfeiture measures like those in Oakland and Sacramento to
demand a criminal conviction before property is seized.

Attorneys in the case were unavailable for comment.