DUNEDIN, Fla. — A federal appeals court has sided with the city of Dunedin in its three-year legal battle with a homeowner who racked up $30,000 in fines over uncut grass.
That homeowner, Jim Ficken, called those fines excessive and claimed he was denied due process. But the original judge — and now the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals — disagrees.
Attorneys with the Institute for Justice, which has been handling Ficken’s case, say they’re disappointed and are planning their next legal move.
“The 11th Circuit, the appeals court that heard this case, is really misinterpreting this area of law,” said Ficken’s attorney, Andrew Ward. “It’s something that Supreme Court needs to explore more.”
Ward says the court essentially found that legislative bodies, in this case, the city of Dunedin, can set the standard for what’s excessive in their own community.
“We think the court got it wrong,” Ward said. “This is an excessive fine. Mr. Ficken was fine almost $30,000 because his grass got too long. And if that’s not excessive, it’s hard to imagine what it is.”
The city of Dunedin released a statement calling the 11th Circuit’s ruling “thorough and detailed,” adding, “We appreciate the time the court took to carefully review the record and legal arguments to reach its conclusions.”
According to Ficken’s attorneys in an earlier interview, Ficken was out of the state attending to his late mother’s estate when a man he paid to cut his lawn died unexpectedly. When Ficken returned home, he claims he found his lawn hadn’t been mowed but didn’t learn until later that the city had been fining him the whole time.
“The court basically said the law is the law, and that’s not the way the Bill of Rights are supposed to work,” Ward said. “They’re supposed to be an independent check where a judge should be able to say no. Even if the law says that you get a $30,000 fine, that’s excessive.”
A three-judge panel heard the case. Ward says they have the option of asking the full 11th Circuit to re-hear the issue – or they could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
To this day, Ficken has not paid his fine.
“He would like to be able to set a precedent, not just in his own favor, but to make sure that no government can do this sort of thing,” Ward said.
Dunedin received a wave of adverse public reaction to Ficken’s case.
While defending the city’s policies, Dunedin’s mayor said they could do better and in 2020 the city passed a new ordinance capping code violations fines at $10,000.
Ficken’s lawyers say they’re glad the city of Dunedin has since reduced the maximum it fines people for code violations but in their opinion, it’s also an acknowledgment that city had been going about this the wrong way.
Ficken’s attorneys have until Aug. 4th to decide their next legal move.