Colorado Loses Supreme Court Battle: Must Refund Exonerated Defendants

Shannon Nelson fought the Colorado law, and the law lost. The United States Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the law allowing the state to keep all fines and fees paid by defendants -— even if the defendant is later exonerated — is unconstitutional.

The court ruled 7-1 against the state. Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter. The court's newest member, Colorado's Neil Gorsuch, had not taken part in the arguments and couldn't vote.

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"Colorado may not presume a person, adjudged guilty of no crime, nonetheless guilty enough for monetary exactions,"Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the majority.

The case was brought by Nelson, who had been convicted of sexually and physically abusing her four children. After trial she was ordered to pay $8,192 in court costs, fees and restitution. On appeal, her conviction was reversed and a new jury acquitted her.

When she tried to get the money back, the courts ruled against her.

Colorado argued that the law states they are entitled to keep the money — and found a lone supporter in Justice Thomas who wrote the money "now belongs to the State and the victims under Colorado law."

Ginsburg — and the majority — disagreed.

"Absent conviction of a crime, one is presumed innocent," said Ginsburg. "Under the Colorado law before us in these cases, however, the state retains conviction-related assessments unless and until the prevailing defendant institutes a discrete civil proceeding and proves her innocence by clear and convincing evidence.

"This scheme, we hold, offends the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of due process."