Cite as: 507 U. S. 111 (1993)
Opinion of Stevens, J.
In all of these early cases the Government's right to take possession of property stemmed from the misuse of the property itself. Indeed, until our decision in Warden, Md. Penitentiary v. Hayden, 387 U. S. 294 (1967), the Government had power to seize only property that " 'the private citizen was not permitted to possess.' " 15 The holding in that case that the Fourth Amendment did not prohibit the seizure of "mere evidence" marked an important expansion of governmental power. See Zurcher v. Stanford Daily, 436 U. S. 547, 577- 580 (1978) (Stevens, J., dissenting).
The decision by Congress in 1978 to amend the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, 84 Stat. 1236, to authorize the seizure and forfeiture of proceeds of illegal drug transactions, see 92 Stat. 3777, also marked an important expansion of governmental power.16 Before that amendment, the statute had authorized forfeiture of only the
15 "Thus stolen property—the fruits of crime—was always subject to seizure. And the power to search for stolen property was gradually extended to cover 'any property which the private citizen was not permitted to possess,' which included instrumentalities of crime (because of the early notion that items used in crime were forfeited to the State) and contraband. Kaplan, Search and Seizure: A No-Man's Land in the Criminal Law, 49 Calif. L. Rev. 474, 475. No separate governmental interest in seizing evidence to apprehend and convict criminals was recognized; it was required that some property interest be asserted. The remedial structure also reflected these dual premises. Trespass, replevin, and the other means of redress for persons aggrieved by searches and seizures, depended upon proof of a superior property interest. And since a lawful seizure presupposed a superior claim, it was inconceivable that a person could recover property lawfully seized." Warden v. Hayden, 387 U. S., at 303-304.
16 A precedent for this expansion had been established in 1970 by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), see 18 U. S. C. § 1963(a). Even RICO, however, did not specifically provide for the forfeiture of "proceeds" until 1984, when Congress added § 1963(a)(3) to resolve any doubt whether it intended the statute to reach so far. See S. Rep. No. 98-225, pp. 191-200 (1983); Russello v. United States, 464 U. S. 16 (1983).
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