The procedure the FBI used to seize this property is known as civil asset forfeiture, which empowers local, state, and federal governments to take a citizen's property if they suspect that it has been used to commit a crime.
In many states and at the federal level, one does not have to be convicted - or even charged - with a crime for officers to seize the property.
The U.S. Attorney's Office indicated that it had not filed any other criminal charges against those whose property was seized.
The government still has not returned the property to these individuals, which prompted the lawsuit.
Several of the safe deposit box renters who haven't been charged filed a class action lawsuit accusing the government of violating their Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure and their Fifth Amendment protection from having private property taken without compensation.
What is also noteworthy about this case is that the warrant from the raid specifically barred law enforcement from seizing the private property contained in the safe deposit boxes.
Court documents later showed that the FBI had drawn up plans months earlier to forfeit property from the boxes and failed to inform the magistrate judge about those plans.
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