What is Austin v. United States?
{{Infobox SCOTUS case |Litigants=Austin v. United States |ArgueDate=April 20 |ArgueYear=1993 |DecideDate=June 28 |DecideYear=1993 |FullName=Austin v. United States |Docket=92-6073 |USVol=509 |USPage=602 |ParallelCitations=113 S. Ct. 2801; 125 [[L. Ed. 2d]] 488 |Prior=''United States v. One Parcel of Prop. Located at 508 Depot St.'', 964 [[F.2d]] [https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/964/814/341676/ 814] ([[8th Cir.]] 1992); [[Certiorari|cert]]. granted, {{ussc|506|1074|1993|el=no}}. |Holding=Forfeiture under §§881(a)(4) and (a)(7) is a monetary punishment and, as such, is subject to the limitations of the Excessive Fines Clause. |Majority=Blackmun |JoinMajority=White, Stevens, O’Connor, Souter |Concurrence=Scalia |JoinConcurrence= |Concurrence2=Kennedy |JoinConcurrence2=Rehnquist, Thomas |Dissent= |JoinDissent= |LawsApplied= }} '''''Austin v. United States''''', [[Case citation|509 U.S. 602]] (1993), was an [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] case in 1993 where the Supreme Court decided that the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighth Amendment]] includes the government seizing property as punishment. == Details == Richard Lyle Austin was accused of violating the drug laws of [[South Dakota]]. He admitted to having [[cocaine]] and wanting to give it to others. The United States told him to turn over his car shop. Austin said that the government doing that was a violation of the part of the 8th Amendment that says fines can't be too much. Austin won the case. [[Category:United States Supreme Court cases]] [[Category:1993 in the United States]]