Letter to the editor: Excessive fine for Trump unconstitutional
Former President Donald Trump has been fined $454 million.
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
I wonder, in this economy today, how much should be considered to be an excessive fine? What amount would constitute a cruel punishment? How much of a fine should be called an unusual punishment? Half a million dollars? One million dollars?
I hope that soon I will hear in the news that the fine assigned to Trump has been determined to truly be an excessive fine and that it has been found that to decree a fine of $454 million violated the Constitution of the United States. What punishment should be meted out to the official who would so violate the Constitution?
Dan Manka
Fairmont, W.Va.
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