Home > Great American Court Cases > Bennis v. Michigan

Legal Citation: 516 U.S. 442 (1996)

Petitioner
Tina B. Bennis

Respondent
State of Michigan

Petitioner's Claim
That she should be allowed to contest the confiscation of the car she jointly owned with her husband because she did not know her husband would use the car to violate Michigan's indecency law.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner
Stefan B. Herpel

Chief Lawyers for the Respondent
Larry L. Roberts, Richard H. Seamon

Justices for the Court
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist (writing for the Court), Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas

Justices Dissenting
Stephen Breyer, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, John Paul Stevens

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
4 March 1996

Decision
Upheld the state of Michigan's claim that the...