Supreme Court to Decide Whether States Can Impose Excessive Fines on the Poor

This view has critical support from across the ideological spectrum. The ACLU’s amicus brief is joined by the R Street Institute, a free-market-oriented advocacy organization. Other groups, ranging from the NAACP to the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, Goldwater Institute, and Rutherford Institute, have also submitted amicus briefs arguing that the Excessive Fines Clause was intended to guard against abuse resulting from pressures on government to bridge budgetary shortfalls through fines, fees, and forfeitures.