296
Kennedy, J., concurring
simply recognizes that Congress, in order to quiet title to forfeitable property in one proceeding, has structured the forfeiture action as a proceeding against the property, not against a particular defendant. Indeed, the Government will often file a forfeiture complaint without any knowledge of who the owner is. See ante, at 291-292. True, the forfeiture statutes require proof of a violation of a drug trafficking or other offense, but the purpose of this predicate showing is just to establish that the property was used in a crime. In contrast to criminal forfeiture, see 21 U. S. C. § 853(a), civil in rem forfeiture actions do not require a showing that the owner who stands to lose his property interest has committed a criminal offense. See § 881(a)(6) ("any violation of this subchapter"); § 881(a)(7) ("a violation of this subchapter"); 18 U. S. C. § 981(a)(1)(A) ("a transaction or attempted transaction in violation of" § 1956). The offenses committed by Ursery, Arlt, and Wren were proffered as evidence that the property was used in a crime, but this does not make forfeiture a punishment for those offenses. See United States v. One Assortment of 89 Firearms, 465 U. S. 354, 366 (1984) (civil forfeiture is "not an additional penalty for the commission of a criminal act").
For this reason, Justice Stevens' attempt, post, at 317, to rely on the same-elements test of Blockburger v. United States, 284 U. S. 299, 304 (1932), is unavailing. Blockburger is a misfit in this context; it compares the elements of two offenses charged against a defendant. The forfeiture cause of action is not charging a second offense of the person; it is a proceeding against the property in which proof of a criminal violation by any person will suffice, provided that some knowledge of, or consent to, the crime on the part of the property owner is also established.
In Part II-C of its opinion, the Court conducts the two-part inquiry established in 89 Firearms, supra, at 362-366, as to whether, first, Congress intended the proceedings to be civil, and, second, the forfeitures are so punitive as to be
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