02-20-2019, 04:36 PM
(02-20-2019, 02:46 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-says-constitutional-protection-against-excessive-fines-applies-to-state-actions/2019/02/20/204ce0d4-3522-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html?utm_term=.8bd8de47e74a
Last year was the 150th anniversary of the 14th Amendment, which was written to ensure that individuals were protected from state (and local) governments in the same manner they are the federal. Thanks to selective incorporation, it has taken this long for people to be protected by the 8th when it comes to lower-level governments.
An excellent decision. As stated below, it's always great to see a unanimous SCOTUS ruling.
(02-20-2019, 02:47 PM)GMDino Wrote: You just beat me to it!
I think this is a great thing.
It also leads into discussions I've had about how once a person is "in the system" the system has a way of keeping you there...usually by financial means.
Of course now they (elected officials) will have to try and find new ways to raise fess because they are afraid to raise taxes to pay for services and to balance their budget.
This varies heavily by state. You are absolutely correct that this means local officials will have to raise revenue by other means.
(02-20-2019, 03:19 PM)Au165 Wrote: It'll be interesting to see how this impacts budgets of smaller policing agencies. A lot of them have historically relied on these things to fund new equipment.
As GM stated above, they'll likely have to raise taxes, which is always popular.
(02-20-2019, 03:24 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Sounds good to me. Unanimous decisions on cases like this hammer it home nicely.
Agreed!
