S. Cash, Crime, and the Constitution: the Legal Frontiers of Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering

This course examines the law of money laundering, asset forfeiture, and financial crime enforcement through the doctrines, statutes, and constitutional principles that govern how the government follows money, restrains assets, and seeks to convert suspicion into punishment. Students will study money laundering offenses, criminal and civil forfeiture, tracing, seizure and restraint, evidentiary proof, due process, excessive fines, third-party rights, AML and sanctions-related enforcement, and the role of financial institutions in detecting and policing illicit finance. Moving across a wide range of settings, from cartel cash and bank compliance failures to oligarch yachts and contested claims to property, the course is grounded in doctrine but animated by real cases and litigation strategy, offering a rigorous and lively exploration of one of the most dynamic fields in modern criminal law.