Supreme Court lawyer Jeffrey Fisher filed a petition on September 10 arguing that the $11 billion penalty imposed on FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried violates the Eighth Amendment. Fisher contends that the sum is excessive and prevents the defendant from ever earning a living after his release from prison.
The legal argument draws on the 13th-century Magna Carta, asserting that fines should not strip individuals of their future livelihood. Fisher contrasts this with the Jouppi v. Alaska case, which the Supreme Court agreed to hear in July, regarding the seizure of a plane valued at $95,000.
Fisher also claims that the original trial was unfair because jurors were not informed that FTX customers would be repaid. By July, the fifth customer payout reached 105% of claims, though these were calculated at November 2022 prices, excluding creditors from subsequent market gains.
The lawyer noted that the FTX estate sold its stake in Anthropic in 2024 for approximately $1.3 billion. This holding would be worth over $30 billion today. A federal appeals court previously rejected these arguments in June, and the Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hear the appeal.
