606
Opinion of the Court
United States v. One Parcel of Property, 964 F. 2d 814, 817 (1992). Although it thought that "the principle of proportionality should be applied in civil actions that result in harsh penalties," ibid., and that the Government was "exacting too high a penalty in relation to the offense committed," id., at 818, the court felt constrained from holding the forfeiture unconstitutional. It cited this Court's decision in Calero-Toledo v. Pearson Yacht Leasing Co., 416 U. S. 663 (1974), for the proposition that, when the Government is proceeding against property in rem, the guilt or innocence of the property's owner "is constitutionally irrelevant." 964 F. 2d, at 817. It then reasoned: "We are constrained to agree with the Ninth Circuit that '[i]f the constitution allows in rem forfeiture to be visited upon innocent owners . . . the constitution hardly requires proportionality review of forfeitures.' " Ibid., quoting United States v. Tax Lot 1500, 861 F. 2d 232, 234 (CA9 1988), cert. denied sub nom. Jaffee v. United States, 493 U. S. 954 (1989).
We granted certiorari, 506 U. S. 1074 (1993), to resolve an apparent conflict with the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit over the applicability of the Eighth Amendment to in rem civil forfeitures. See United States v. Certain Real Property, 954 F. 2d 29, 35, 38-39, cert. denied sub nom. Levin v. United States, 506 U. S. 815 (1992).
II
Austin contends that the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Clause applies to in rem civil forfeiture proceedings. See Brief for Petitioner 10, 19, 23. We have had occasion to consider this Clause only once before. In Browning-Ferris Industries of Vt., Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc., 492 U. S. 257 (1989), we held that the Excessive Fines Clause does not limit the award of punitive damages to a private party in a civil suit when the government neither has prosecuted the action nor has any right to receive a share of the damages. Id., at 264. The Court's opinion and Justice O'Connor's
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