No One Likes Excessive Fines, But No One Can Define Them, Either
The Supreme Court seems likely to strike them down, leaving open the question of how much is too much.
That’s gonna cost you.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North AmericaUnless you’ve had an unfortunate encounter with law enforcement, you probably don’t give much thought to the Constitution’s bar on excessive fines. But the clause is there in the Eighth Amendment, right beside the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments. And the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon rule that the rule applies not just to the federal government but also to the states has occasioned considerable celebration.
Questions from the justices during last week’s oral argument in Timbs v. Indiana make clear that a majority is prepared to reach that result. That’s grand news. But even if the court decides that the states, too, are prohibited from demanding excessive fines, judges across the country will still have to figure out when a fine is excessive. On that point, the justices are likely to offer little guidance.