The Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Prohibition: Implications for Consumer Financial Services Providers

Summary: In November, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case over whether the Eighth Amendment’s excessive-fines prohibition applies to states under the 14th Amendment. In this week’s podcast, we review the litigation and lower court decisions and discuss how the case could provide companies with a constitutional basis for challenging fines and penalties sought by state attorneys general and regulators as they ramp up their supervision and enforcement to fill the void created by a less aggressive CFPB.