Instead, the justices in a 6-3 decision said the Constitution requires a “timely hearing” to consider whether the police had properly arrested the driver and seized the vehicle, but that may take weeks or months. In the interim, the innocent owner may be without their car.

Two Alabama women spent more than a year trying to reclaim vehicles they owned, which the police had confiscated after arresting their drivers on drug charges.

A divided Supreme Court has ruled that authorities do not have to provide a quick hearing when they seize cars and other property used in drug crimes, even when the property belongs to so-called innocent owners.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of a Miami music producer in a legal fight with Warner Music over a song by rapper Flo Rida, resolving a dispute over the time limit for claiming monetary damages in copyright cases.