Timbs
The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Wesley Hottot now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract:
This Article explains how
Timbs v. Indiana does more than hold that the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause applies to state and local authorities.
Timbs also gives definition to those “excessive fines” the Constitution guarantees “shall not be . . . imposed.”
This definition emerges when
Timbs is read alongside three other decisions: (1)
Austin v. United States the Supreme Court’s decision holding that forfeitures are “fines” within the meaning of the Excessive Fines Clause; (2)
United States v. Bajakajian the only other case in which the Supreme Court has applied the Excessive Fines Clause; and (3) the Indiana Supreme Court’s decision on remand in