TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Floridians are supposed to be protected from excessive fines by the state’s constitution, but when exactly do fines become excessive? The Florida Supreme Court is being asked to consider the case of a Palm Beach County woman, Sandy Martinez, assessed $165,000 for harmless property code violations. The Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit law firm that protects property rights nationwide, represents Sandy.
“Six-figure fines for parking on your own property are outrageous. 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,” said IJ Attorney Mike Greenberg. “The lower courts have not treated the right to be free from excessive fines like the bedrock protection it was meant to be, and the Florida Supreme Court must revive it.”
The Florida Supreme Court has not considered a case interpreting the state constitution’s excessive fines clause for over a century. Since that time, municipal code enforcement has become a cash cow in Florida, with some locales generating millions of dollars annually from code enforcement fines.
The $165,000 owed by Sandy is a result of daily fines the city assessed over many months. Most of this amount—more than $100,000—is a result of the way Sandy’s family parked their cars on their own property. When all four of the family’s cars were parked in the driveway, sometimes one of them would have two tires on the lawn. For that, the city fined them $250 per day. And under the city’s policy, fines continue to accrue until the homeowner corrects the problem and calls the city to inspect the property to confirm it is in compliance.
After receiving the parking violation, Sandy called the city like she was supposed to, but an inspector never came out. Once she discovered the fines were still accruing over a year later, she immediately contacted the city again and passed the inspection. But by then, the amount she owed was $101,750. The city also fined her tens of thousands for cracks in the driveway and a fence that fell over during a storm.
“The Florida Supreme Court has not interpreted the state constitution’s Excessive Fines Clause in over 100 years,” said IJ Senior Attorney Ari Bargil. “In the meantime, municipal code enforcement has become a major and recurring source of government abuse in the form of catastrophic fines. The time has come for the Florida Supreme Court to once again interpret this important constitutional protection and finally put a stop to this injustice.”
IJ has challenged abusive fines and fees across the country—most notably in Timbs v. Indiana, where the Supreme Court unanimously agreed the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies to states and localities. Late last year, the Pasco County Sheriff admitted to unconstitutionally using fines to harass IJ’s clients. IJ is also challenging excessive code enforcement in Humboldt County, California and policing for profit in Brookside, Alabama.