94
Opinion of Rehnquist, C. J.
In Knote v. United States, 95 U. S. 149, 154 (1877), we stated: "[I]f the proceeds have been paid into the treasury, the right to them has so far become vested in the United States that they can only be secured to the former owner of the property through an act of Congress. Moneys once in the treasury can only be withdrawn by an appropriation by law." Knote is distinguishable in that the forfeiture proceeding in that case was final at the time the appropriations question arose. But the principle that once funds are deposited into the Treasury, they become public money—and thus may only be paid out pursuant to a statutory appropriation— would seem to transcend the facts of Knote. That there exists a specific appropriation for " 'Refund of Moneys Erroneously Received and Covered' and other collections erroneously deposited that are not properly chargeable to another appropriation," 31 U. S. C. § 1322(b)(2), supports this understanding.*
Justice Blackmun relies principally on language from Tyler v. Defrees, 11 Wall. 331, 349 (1871), to the effect that once a seizure of forfeitable property has occurred, "[n]o change of the title or possession [can] be made, pending the judicial proceedings, which would defeat the final decree." See ante, at 92. This language is dictum rendered in the course of deciding a dispute over the sufficiency of the marshal's seizure of the property subject to forfeiture. But even if it were the holding of the case, it would have no application to the present case, because here there was a
*As Justice Blackmun points out, where funds have been accidently deposited into the wrong account, the Comptroller General has assumed that a deposit may be corrected without an express appropriation. Ante, at 92. So, too, reasons Justice Blackmun, would it be "unrealistic . . . to require congressional authorization before a data processor who misplaces a decimal point can 'undo' an inaccurate transfer of Treasury funds." Ibid. This may be so, but this is not our case. For the funds at issue were not accidently deposited into the Treasury, but rather intentionally transferred there once a valid judgment of forfeiture had been entered by the District Court.
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