Tom Gaillard and Bill Watts successfully represented the City of Satsuma, Alabama, in a case that made its way to the United States Supreme Court. In that lawsuit, Plaintiff Halima Culley filed suit against the City of Satsuma and the State of Alabama asserting due process violations pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as a result of the seizure of a vehicle she owned. Culley, a Georgia resident, alleged that the vehicle was being used by her son while he was a student at a local university and that it was seized after he was arrested while operating the vehicle in possession of marijuana and an illegal firearm. After the State of Alabama instituted civil asset forfeiture proceedings related to the vehicle and other items seized as a result of the arrest, Culley filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the procedures followed in Alabama for an individual to contest the seizure of their property in these circumstances.
Gaillard and Watts defended the City of Satsuma, and the Alabama Attorney General’s office represented the state. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama ruled in favor of the city and the state and Culley filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. At that point, the case was consolidated with another similar case from the Northern District of Alabama.
After briefing, the Eleventh Circuit ruled in favor of the city and the state and upheld the determination that there was no constitutional violation involved in the civil asset forfeiture proceeding. Culley then filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. The court granted that Petition on April 17, 2023, to address a split among the United States Courts of Appeal on the question about what type of process is due in these civil asset forfeiture proceedings. Gaillard and Watts worked with Ed Haden of the Balch & Bingham law firm to brief this issue before the United States Supreme Court. They also worked with the Alabama Solicitor General, Edmund G. LaCour, who ultimately argued the case on behalf of the City of Satsuma and the State of Alabama before the United States Supreme Court on October 30, 2023.
After hearing oral argument, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion on May 9, 2024, upholding the earlier victories for the city and the state and affirming that the process provided under Alabama law in this type of civil asset forfeiture proceeding provides sufficient due process protections under the law.
Justice Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion for the court affirming the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and dismissing the case. See, Culley v. Marshall, 144 S.Ct. 1142, ___ U. S. ___ (2024).
