By Jaimee Dupree, Cox Washington Bureau, @ AJC, 14 hrs. ago

In a historic first from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Justices ruled unanimously on Wednesday that the Eighth Amendment ban on excessive fines does apply to state and local governments, ruling in favor of an Indiana man who had his expensive car seized by police after he was arrested for a small amount illegal drugs.

Writing for the High Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said "the protection against excessive fines guards against abuses of government’s punitive or criminal law-enforcement authority" found in the Eighth Amendment.

I think it's a smart hire as she will have the knowledge to decode a lot of the spin, dirty tricks, and /or incompetence as the case may be. Including that of Fox news.

11/2018 - ...How could it be that a government employee had 60 horses?” said Franklin Hoet-Linares, a Venezuelan lawyer who lives a short distance from Mr. Andrade’s house in Wellington, Fla., near West Palm Beach.  Mr. Andrade’s plea agreement, and an indictment outlining the bribes he received, were unsealed this week in Federal District Court in Florida. They offer a window into how fortunes were amassed by Venezuela’s elite before they decamped to South Florida.  With his powerful position in Venezuela, Mr. Andrade collected a stunning array of bribes, the documents assert, including three private jets, a yacht, horses and “numerous high-end watches.” In his guilty plea, Mr. Andrade admitted to receiving more than $1 billion in bribes...

By Nathaniel Rakich @ FiveThirtyEight.com, Feb. 15