SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
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No. 94-8729
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TINA B. BENNIS, PETITIONER v. MICHIGAN

on writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of Michigan
[March 4, 1996]

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Syllabus

BENNIS v. MICHIGAN

certiorari to the supreme court of michigan

No. 94-8729. Argued November 29, 1995-Decided March 4, 1996

Petitioner was a joint owner, with her husband, of an automobile in which her husband engaged in sexual activity with a prostitute. In declaring the automobile forfeit as a public nuisance under Michigan's statutory abatement scheme, the trial court permitted no offset for petitioner's interest, notwithstanding her lack of knowledge of her husband's activity. The Michigan Court of Appeals reversed, but was in turn reversed by the State Supreme Court, which concluded, inter alia, that Michigan's failure to provide an innocent-owner defense was without federal constitutional consequence under this Court's decisions.

Held: The forfeiture order did not offend the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Pp. 4-12.

Rehnquist, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which O'Connor, Scalia, Thomas, and Ginsburg, JJ., joined. Thomas, J., and Ginsburg, J., filed concurring opinions. Stevens, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Souter and Breyer, JJ., joined. Kennedy, J., filed a dissenting opinion.


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