A woman who owes more than $100,000 in fines for parking on her own driveway recently saw her appeal rejected by the Florida Supreme Court. The city has charged her $250 per day for almost a year for the parking violations.

Sandy Martinez of Lantana, Florida, owes a total of $165,250 in penalties since 2021, including fines for a storm-damaged fence and cracked pavement. But more than $100,000 of it is for parking cars on her own driveway.

According to the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm that defends property rights, “Sandy, her two driving-age children, and her sister all own cars so they can get to their jobs or school. When all four cars were parked in the driveway, sometimes one of them would have two tires on the lawn. For that, the city fined Sandy $250 per day for nearly a year.”

Martinez first began receiving daily $75 fines from the city for cracks in her driveway in 2013. While saving up to have it replaced, the fines mounted up to $16,125, or well more than the cost of replacing the driveway. In 2015, the city began fining her $125 per day for a fence that was knocked down by a storm. While waiting for her insurance to pay for the damage, the fines climbed to $47,375.

The remaining $101,750 in fines were issued for parking cars slightly off her driveway. Since her home is on a corner lot, street parking isn’t available nearby.

She can’t sell her home, she can’t pay the fines, and the Florida Supreme Court isn’t interested

The Institute for Justice has argued the penalties violate Florida’s Excessive Fines Clause. Unfortunately for Martinez, the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear her case.

“Six-figure fines for parking on your own property are shocking. The Florida Constitution’s Excessive Fines Clause was designed to stop precisely this sort of abuse – to prevent people from being fined into poverty for trivial violations,” said Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Ari Bargil. “The court’s refusal to hear Sandy’s case and clarify the constitution’s protections from runaway government fines is a disservice to all Floridians.”

Martinez says that because of the fines, she can’t sell her property. Florida’s Homestead Protection Act shields her from foreclosure, but until the fines are paid, she has no home equity.

“It’s outrageous that the Florida Supreme Court won’t consider whether the constitution protects Floridians from ruinous fines,” said Martinez. “Cities shouldn’t be allowed to wreck lives over trivial violations.”