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posted by takyon on Thursday February 21 2019, @03:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the kick-back dept.

Supreme Court curbs power of government to impose heavy fines and seize property

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled to drastically curb the powers that states and cities have to levy fines and seize property, marking the first time the court has applied the Constitution's ban on excessive fines at the state level.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who returned to the court for the first time in almost two months after undergoing surgery for lung cancer, wrote the majority opinion in the case involving an Indiana man who had his Land Rover seized after he was arrested for selling $385 of heroin.

"Protection against excessive fines has been a constant shield throughout Anglo-American history for good reason: Such fines undermine other liberties," Ginsburg wrote. "They can be used, e.g., to retaliate against or chill the speech of political enemies. They can also be employed, not in service of penal purposes, but as a source of revenue."

Also at National Review, SCOTUSblog, and NPR.


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  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Thursday February 21 2019, @04:56AM

    by RamiK (1813) on Thursday February 21 2019, @04:56AM (#804384)

    Most people don't realize that -- but it's how some state governments in the early U.S. actually had established religions. It meant that state governments didn't need to recognize your rights against self-incrimination or for jury trials or for whatever, mostly until the mid-20th century.

    Learn something new every day. Thanks!

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