A City Fined Her Over $100,000 for Parking on Her Own Grass. The Florida Supreme Court Won't Hear Her Case. |
Excessive Fines
Billy Binion | 2.4.2026 12:54 PM
What price should someone pay for three minor code violations?
For Sandy Martinez of Lantana, Florida, the answer is: over $165,000, plus interest, a sum so high that selling her house would be insufficient to pay off the debt, according to her complaint filed against the city in 2021. The Florida Supreme Court effectively closed the door on the case in December when it declined her appeal and left in place a decision that ruled the fines were not "excessive." But Martinez's little-known story is a microcosm of the broader debate over what, exactly, transgresses the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on fines that are unconstitutionally severe, especially as local governments are known to rely on such penalties to raise revenue.
Whether there is a disconnect between common sense and the law is open to interpretation. The bulk of her debt—over $100,000—comes from a parking job.
Martinez shares her home, and her driveway, with her sister and two adult children, all of whom have a car. "There is no curb to park alongside, and the roadways in front of and beside the house are only wide........