In Timbs v. Indiana, published February 20, 2019, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court reversed an Indiana Supreme Court ruling on a civil forfeiture related to a criminal conviction. The petitioner pleaded guilty to heroin dealing and conspiracy to commit theft. The state limit on the fine for the offenses was $10,000. The state sought civil forfeiture of the petitioner's $42,000 vehicle--which he purchased with proceeds from his father's life insurance policy--on the ground that it was used to transport heroin. The petitioner challenged the forfeiture on the ground that it amounted to an excessive fine. The state supreme court ruled that the Eighth Amendment limit on excessive fines did not apply to state law civil forfeitures.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that under the Fourteenth Amendment, the limit on excessive fines applies to civil forfeitures under state law. The majority ruled that the Eighth Amendment was incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause under both tests for incorporation: The protection was fundamental to the nation's scheme of ordered liberty; and it was deeply rooted in the nation's history and traditions. The state argued that the clause does not apply to civil in rem forfeitures. But Austin v. United States held that the clause applied to in rem forfeitures under federal law. When a Bill of Rights protection is incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment, the protection applies identically to both the Federal Government and the states. The Supreme Court declined to overrule Austin. The state also argued that whether the protection applied to civil in rem forfeitures was not fundamental or deeply rooted in the nation's history or traditions. In considering whether the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates a protection contained in the Bill of Rights, the court ask whether the right guaranteed—not each and every particular application of that right—is fundamental or deeply rooted.
Two concurring justices opined that the excessive fines protection was incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause, rather than its due process clause.