First Page
73
Last Page
106
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The Excessive Fines Clause is one of the least developed clauses pertaining to criminal procedure in the Bill of Rights. In fact, the Supreme Court has only interpreted the Clause a few times in its entire history. Yet, on any given day, hundreds of thousands of people languish in jails without having been convicted of anything, because most of these people are unable to meet the bail amount a judge sets. This Essay examines the surprisingly under-explored relationship between misdemeanor cash bail & pretrial detention and the Excessive Fines and Excessive Bail Clauses of the Eighth Amendment, using the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Timbs v. Indiana, 139 S. Ct. 682 (2019) as an inroad into the broader topic. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Timbs held that the Excessive Fines Clause applies to the states, thus constitutionally limiting governmental authority to impose economic sanctions. However, it may have done more than that. Since that decision, the line between a legitimate state interest and a punitive economic sanction in misdemeanor bail decisions is blurred, raising the interesting question of what makes a bail determination reasonable. This Essay sets out a few conceptions of the relationship between bail determinations and excessive fines, then shows how those conceptions flow naturally from the rationale of Timbs. The Essay concludes that the Constitution demands more protections for the accused at bail hearings, and the current system in many states fails constitutional scrutiny.
Recommended Citation
Barnett J. Harris
Is Misdemeanor Cash Bail an Unconstitutional Excessive Fine?,
2021 Pepp. L. Rev.
73
(2022)
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr/vol2021/iss1/3
