A panel of federal appeals court judges unanimously ruled that the FBI violated the Fourth Amendment by rifling through the contents of over 700 safe-deposit boxes following a March 2021 raid.
The judges confirmed that the FBI overstepped its warrant, failed to follow proper protocol, and engaged in what appeared to be a “ruse” to search for criminal evidence.
The ruling highlighted the need for reform in federal forfeiture laws and emphasized the importance of the Fourth Amendment.
“If there remained any doubt whether the government conducted a ‘criminal search or seizure,’ that doubt is put to rest by the fact that the government has already used some of the information from inside the boxes to obtain additional warrants to further its investigations and begin new ones,” Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. wrote.
“The Ninth Circuit today held that the FBI violated the Fourth Amendment rights of hundreds of people by breaking into their safe deposit boxes to try to forfeit everything worth taking,” attorney Robert Frommer said.
The case was remanded back to the district court, underscoring the significance of protecting individual rights.
“There can be no question that the government expected, or even hoped, to find criminal evidence during its inventory,” District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled.
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