Unanimous Juries Could Be Next After Ginsburg’s Big Fines Ruling

The federal rule requiring unanimous jury verdicts in criminal trials could soon apply to the states, too, if the U.S. Supreme Court carries momentum from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s opinion today.

Today’s ruling involved Indiana state law enforcement’s seizure of Tyson Timbs’ $42,000 Land Rover in connection with what he characterized as a minor drug prosecution.

Ginsburg wrote for the unanimous court that the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive fines applies—or is “incorporated"—to the states, making it one less outlier right that applies in federal but not state proceedings. She sent the case back to the state court to apply ...