Cite as: 510 U. S. 43 (1993)
Opinion of Thomas, J.
rights incident to the ownership of real property, especially residences, and second, a more implicitly expressed distrust of the Government's aggressive use of broad civil forfeiture statutes. Although I concur with both of these sentiments, I cannot agree that Good was deprived of due process of law under the facts of this case. Therefore, while I join Parts I and III of the Court's opinion, I dissent from Part II.
Like the majority, I believe that "[i]ndividual freedom finds tangible expression in property rights." Ante, at 61. In my view, as the Court has increasingly emphasized the creation and delineation of entitlements in recent years, it has not always placed sufficient stress upon the protection of individuals' traditional rights in real property. Although I disagree with the outcome reached by the Court, I am sympathetic to its focus on the protection of property rights—rights that are central to our heritage. Cf. Payton v. New York, 445 U. S. 573, 601 (1980) ("[R]espect for the sanctity of the home . . . has been embedded in our traditions since the origins of the Republic"); Entick v. Carrington, 19 How. St. Tr. 1029, 1066 (C. P. 1765) ("The great end, for which men entered into society, was to secure their property").
And like the majority, I am disturbed by the breadth of new civil forfeiture statutes such as 21 U. S. C. § 881(a)(7), which subjects to forfeiture all real property that is used, or intended to be used, in the commission, or even the facilitation, of a federal drug offense.1 As Justice O'Connor
1 Other courts have suggested that Government agents, and the statutes under which they operate, have gone too far in the civil forfeiture context. See, e. g., United States v. All Assets of Statewide Auto Parts, Inc., 971 F. 2d 896, 905 (CA2 1992) ("We continue to be enormously troubled by the government's increasing and virtually unchecked use of the civil forfeiture statutes and the disregard for due process that is buried in those statutes"); United States v. One Parcel of Property, 964 F. 2d 814, 818 (CA8 1992) ("[W]e are troubled by the government's view that any property,
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