United States v. Riverbend Farms, Inc.

OVERVIEW

Riverbend Farms, Inc. (“Riverbend”) appeals from the decision of the district court ordering civil forefeiture pursuant to 7 U.S.C. § 608a(5). Riverbend argues that: 1) Title 7 U.S.C. § 608a(7) requires the Secretary of Agriculture (“Secretary”) to conduct an administrative hearing prior to commencement of a forfeiture proceeding; 2) it is immune from penalties for overship-ments that occurred while it had an administrative petition pending; 3) civil forfeiture under 7 U.S.C. § 608a(5) is sufficiently criminal in nature to implicate due process rights; 4) the district court erred in refusing to allow it to raise affirmative defenses to the forfeiture action; and 5) the district court erred in refusing to allow evidence that the administrative remedy is inadequate. We affirm.

FACTS

The essential facts are not in dispute. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (“Act”) is intended to “establish and maintain ... orderly marketing conditions for agricultural commodities in interstate commerce.” 7 U.S.C. § 602 (1). Under the Lemon Marketing Order, 7 C.F.R. §§ 910.50-910.56 , the Secretary sets limits on the quantity of lemons shipped by individual handlers. During a one week period…