Lent v. California Coastal Commission

Nov 17, 2021 by AFP

(1) Can a state administrative agency, consistent with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, permanently deprive a person of millions of dollars in fines using a summary hearing process that dispenses with the heightened procedural safeguards traditionally afforded those who face a significant deprivation of property? (2) Is a $4.185 million fine, assessed to punish homeowners for failing immediately to remove ordinary residential accessories located within an undeveloped public beach-access easement, unconstitutional under the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment, as incorporated against the states by the Fourteenth Amendment?