Legal Update

Supreme Court Limits Excessive Forfeitures as Criminal Penalties Larry E. Holtz, Esq. Recently, in Timbs v. Indiana, 586 U.S. ___ (2019), the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that states cannot impose excessive fees, fines and forfeitures as criminal penalties. The Court’s decision underscores that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against “excessive fines” applies to states and localities as well as the federal government. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, just back in court after lung cancer surgery, wrote the majority opinion and…