After police raided her apartment, Rochester resident Cristal Starling lost $8,000 to the U.S. government because of a missed deadline, despite never being charged with a crime. But last week, a federal appeals court revived her case.

The public interest law firm representing Starling, the Institute for Justice, says the ruling is a welcome check on civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize property suspected of being connected to criminal activity without charging the owner with a crime.

“The court recognized what has always been abundantly clear about civil forfeiture: allowing police to pocket the money they take from people who have never been charged with a crime encourages police to take more money from innocent people,” Institute for Justice attorney Seth Young said in a press release following the ruling.