By Aliza M. Tresser
The plain text of the Eighth Amendment prohibits the government from punishing people with excessive fines. But until the Excessive Fines Clause was incorporated in 2019, it did not apply to municipal or state governments. In applying federal doctrine to the local context, many courts have not yet extended this guarantee to an obvious application: expensive traffic and parking tickets compounded by the exorbitant costs associated with towed cars or losing the car altogether at a lien sale. While towing companies are third-party contractors, this Note argues that because police authorize the towing companies to tow private vehicles and fine their owners, these punishments fall within the bounds of the Excessive Fines Clause. Additionally, whether fines related to car towing are excessive may depend on the financial circumstances of the car owner. What may be a manageable unplanned expense for one person is not so for others and can throw families living in poverty into economic insecurity and instability. Given this exposure to instability, fines that are reasonable for one family are not for another. Though there is no explicit Eighth Amendment protection against arbitrary impoundments, there is legal momentum around the idea; a growing number of jurisdictions are finding Excessive Fines violations for vehicle impoundments. This Note presents a comprehensive analysis of the Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines Clause as applied to traffic and parking violations, especially when it results in a car being towed without the consent of the owner.