Watch out my brothers of color...

[vienna]

$280,000 for yelling at someone and using the N word. So much for the 8th amendment .

Doesn't apply here: the judgement was by a jury finding guilt and assessing damages and not a fine payable to the U.S. government. This is just basically a damages case and the jury is allowed to set the amount of damages. If a government agency, say the EEOC, had fined the offenders, then perhaps a case could be made for 8th Amendment protections. However, even then, if the fine was intended to punish and deter not only the original offenders, but, also, those who may offend in the future, what may seem as a rather large "unreasonable" fine may be allowed for the purposes of deterence. Also, in some cases, a smaller fine or judgement against a very large and wealthy offender really wouldn't have the intended purpose of punishing and deterring; a $1,000 fine or judgement isn't going to be a blip on the radar of, say, a multi-national financial insitution and make them change their ways; a $1,000,000 fine or judgement is definitely going to get their attention...


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