In New Jersey v. Bennie Anderson, decided August 11, 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Court addressed the question whether, under the facts presented, forfeiture of a criminal defendant’s pension constituted an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution or under Article I, Paragraph 12 of the New Jersey Constitution.

The facts are undisputed. Anderson, a Viet Nam War veteran, worked for Jersey City in the Tax Assessor’s Office for over 38 years, retiring at age 59 in 2017, having contributed over those years into a public pension fund. In March 2017, he retired, was granted an early service retirement pension of $60,173.67 per year and began collecting his pension. Later that year, Anderson was charged with a federal crime, namely, interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right, carrying a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. His crime consisted of taking one $300 bribe in December 2012 in exchange for which he agreed to alter a property’s tax description used to determine the property’s zoning classification, thus allowing it to be rezoned to allow a three-unit dwelling instead of only two units. There is no suggestion that this was other than a one-time act and the judge sentenced Anderson to two years of probation with five months of home detention and a fine of $3,000.