A teenager from Oregon is facing a hefty $36,618,330.24 fine to cover all the damages he inflicted after setting 48,000 acres of land ablaze back in September 2017. The individual, who was only 15 at the time, revealed that he was responsible for having thrown fireworks in the woods while hiking on the Eagle Creek trail, effectively enabling a rampant wildfire that took days to abate.
The 11 claims brought forth by state and other parties collectively totalled over $36 million in restitution.
The boy's lawyer has gone on record to denounce this egregious punishment, stating that it violates the Oregon/US Constitutions and the Eighth Amendment, which protects individuals from excessive fines, as well as "cruel and unusual punishments."
However, Hood River County Circuit Court Judge John A. Olson believes that the verdict does not violate the constitution in any significant manner. "The restitution is clearly proportionate to the offense because it does not exceed the financial damages caused by the youth. I'm satisfied that the restitution ordered in this case bears a sufficient relationship to the gravity of the offenses for which the youth was adjudicated."
