Nava

I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEEDINGS

A

The government may seek the forfeiture of property in either a civil or a criminal proceeding. The principal civil drug forfeiture provision, 21 U.S.C. § 881, operates in rem against the property itself on the theory that the property itself is guilty of wrongdoing. See Austin v. United States, 509 U.S. 602, 614-18 (1993); United States v. Lester, 85 F.3d 1409, 1414 n.8 (9th Cir. 1996) (“[A] civil forfeiture is an in rem proceeding in which liability attaches to a particular property and not particular institutions or individuals.” (quoting United States v. $814,254.76 in United States Currency, 51 F.3d 207, 210-11 (9th Cir. 1995))). In contrast, criminal forfeiture pro- visions operate in personam against the assets of the defen- dant and serve as part of the penalty for the defendant’s conviction. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 1963; 21 U.S.C. § 853; see also United States v. $814,254.76, 51 F.3d at 210-11 (“A criminal forfeiture is an in personam judgment against a per- 4222 UNITED STATES v. NAVA son convicted of a crime” (citing Alexander v. United States, 509 U.S. 544, 558-59 n.4 (1993))); United States v. Certain Real Property…