Escheating scandal?

Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, faults some states today for insufficiently notifying property owners before “escheating their financial assets” — confiscating them on the grounds that they are supposedly abandoned. See Taylor v. Lee, a statement concurring in the Supreme Court’s refusal to review one such case; the opinion notes that “The convoluted history of this case makes it a poor vehicle for reviewing the important question it presents, and therefore I concur in the denial of review,” but adds that “the constitutionality of current state escheat laws is a question that may merit review in a future case” — a signal to lawyers to bring the matter up again in the future.