A Florida Judge Says $165,000 in Fines for 3 Minor Code Violations Is Not ‘Excessive’
Reason | 10 Apr, 2024 | Jacob SullumA Florida judge yesterday ruled against a Lantana homeowner who faces more than $165,000 in fines for three minor code violations that harmed no one. Sandy Martinez, who is represented by the Institute for Justice (I.J.), argued that the financially crippling demand, which stems from driveway cracks, a storm-damaged fence, and cars that were parked partially on her own lawn, violates the Florida Constitution’s ban on excessive fines and its guarantee of due process. But Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Luis Delgado granted the city’s motion for summary judgment, concluding that the fines were not “grossly disproportionate.”
Martinez hopes to persuade Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal that Delgado is wrong about that. “Six-figure fines for parking on your own property are outrageous,” says I.J. attorney Mike Greenberg. “The Florida Constitution’s Excessive Fines Clause was designed to stop precisely this sort of abuse—to prevent people from being fined into poverty for trivial violations. The court’s opinion renders those bedrock protections a dead letter. We will appeal.”
Martinez’s debt to the city began accumulating in 2013, when she was cited for cracks in her driveway. For a single mother with a modest income who was living from one paycheck to another, the cost of laying a new driveway was hard to manage. But in the meantime, daily fines of $75 continued to accrue, eventually reaching a total of $16,125 with interest—”far greater than the cost of an entirely new driveway,” she notes in the lawsuit that she filed against the city in February 2021.
“Honey, are you okay?”
“FINE!”
Can Miss Raquel be prosecuted under an “excessive fine” doctrine?
Excessively, ly.
“Oppo, I’m only going to charge you a quarter of a cent for every time you’ve had an impure thought about MaryAnn or Ginger.”
“Oh, have a heart, Judge!”
Mika is excessively fine…
I’ll ignore that reference to “Miss Raquel”… for now…
“I’m better when there’s something over my mouth, anyway.” — Mika
Judge, I admit I’m the defendment
And you know that I live in a tendment
However, to holler
For fifty-six dollar
Violates the Eighth Amendment.
What the DC courts did to Mark Steyn comes to mind…
…any fines involving Trump I can tell you that. Those Fines are fine btw. Miss Fine the Nanny!
Nanny Fine was one of my guilty pleasures, in — was it college years? Whenever. I’d come home and she’d be on the TV at 5:00 p.m. parading that tight hourglass figure up and down the screen in a miniskirt and high heels for half an hour. Didn’t pay much attention to the dialogue, but it was better than the dreck today. She made fun of herself, which is refreshing.
Damn nice-looking woman. As luck would have it, I worked with a woman who resembled her in all important features! Big hair and everything. And I got her naked. Oppo’s charmed life.
Pics or it didn’t happen!
Yeah Miss Fine had an annoying voice but any decent man would be willing to work around it.
She actually got rid of the accent but the producers wanted it back for the sake of the character, and it worked so she went back to it.
Her boss Maxwell Sheffield said she could sound like a hyena and it would be cool as long as he has the ear plugs he bought from Adam & Eve. (R)
A $500 fine for driving slow in the passing lane always seemed excessively low to me.
Other Examples of Excessive Fines: …
$475 Million for paying your loan back in full and on time.