UPDATE 1-U.S. high court buttresses constitutional ban on 'excessive fines'

Ruling for the first time that the U.S. Constitution's ban on "excess fines" applies to states as well as the federal government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with an Indiana man who argued police violated his rights by seizing his $42,000 Land Rover vehicle after he was convicted as a heroin dealer. The court, in a 9-0 ruling, clarified the applicability of the "excessive fines" prohibition contained in the Constitution's Eighth Amendment. The decision means that the man, Tyson Timbs, now has a chance to get his Land Rover back.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, back on the bench for the second day since lung cancer surgery in December, wrote the court's opinion. "For good reason, the protection against excessive fines has been a constant shield throughout Anglo-American history. Exorbitant tolls undermine other constitutional liberties," Ginsburg said in court as she announced the ruling.

The vehicle was taken in a process called civil asset forfeiture that permits police to seize and keep property involved in a crime. The Eighth Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution's first 10 amendments that were ratified in 1791 as guarantees of individual rights and curbs on governmental power. Timbs pleaded guilty in 2015 to one count of dealing in controlled substances and one count of conspiracy to commit theft after selling four grams of heroin to undercover police officers for $385 in Marion, Indiana in two separate transactions two years earlier, according to legal filings.

He was sentenced to one year of home detention and five years of probation, and authorities seized his 2012 Land Rover LR2 SUV, which he had used to purchase, transport and sell the drugs. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)