"The Burdens of the Excessive Fines Clause" The title of this post is the title of this new article now available via SSRN authored by Beth Colgan. Here is its abstract: A key component is missing from the Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause doctrine: who has the burden of proof? This question — which has been essentially ignored by both federal and state courts — is not just a second order problem. Rather, the assignment of burdens of proof is essential to the clause’s enforcement, making it harder — or easier — for the government to abuse the revenue generating capacity of economic sanctions in ways that can entrench poverty, particularly in heavily-policed communities of color.