In her second day back at the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg authored and announced a unanimous ruling Wednesday limiting civil asset forfeiture by prohibiting state and local governments from using excessive fines to raise revenues. NPR writes:
The court's opinion came in the case of Tyson Timbs, whose $42,000 Land Rover was seized by the state of Indiana after he was arrested for selling a small amount of heroin to undercover cops for $400.
A lower court in Indiana initially ruled against the state, determining that the fine far outweighed the crime, especially after Timbs paid other fines and underwent a year of house detention. That decision was overturned by the state’s high court, which asserted the Constitution's prohibition of excessive fines didn't apply to the states. The Supreme Court ultimately disagreed, with Ginsburg writing that seizing the Land Rover was "grossly disproportionate to the gravity of Timbs's offense." Ginsburg called the ban on excessive fines a "constant shield" against fines being misused to punish enemies or improperly raise revenues.
Ginsburg’s authoritative return to the court came after she underwent lung cancer surgery late last year.