Cite as: 506 U. S. 80 (1992)
Opinion of Rehnquist, C. J.
guard against abuse. No settled rule requires continuous control of the res for appellate jurisdiction in an in rem forfeiture proceeding. Nor does the Appropriations Clause place the money out of reach. Accordingly, we hold that the Court of Appeals did not lose jurisdiction when the funds were transferred from the Southern District of Florida to the Assets Forfeiture Fund of the United States Treasury. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court in part, concurred in part, and concurred in the judgment.*
I join the Court's judgment and Parts I, II, and IV of its opinion. I write separately, however, because I do not agree with the Appropriations Clause analysis set forth in Part III. Justice Blackmun "would hold that the Constitution does not forbid the return without an appropriation of funds held in the Treasury during the course of an in rem forfeiture proceeding to the party determined to be their owner." Ante, at 92. Justice Blackmun reaches this result because he concludes that funds deposited in the Treasury in the course of a proceeding to determine their ownership are not "public money." I have difficulty accepting the proposition that funds which have been deposited into the Treasury are not public money, regardless of whether the Government's ownership of those funds is disputed. Part of my difficulty stems from the lack of any support in our cases for this theory.
*Justice White, Justice Scalia, Justice Kennedy, and Justice Souter join The Chief Justice's opinion in its entirety. Justice Thomas joins this opinion only insofar as it disposes of the Appropriations Clause issue.
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