Cite as: 518 U. S. 267 (1996)
Opinion of Stevens, J.
cluded that it was motivated by a "penal and prohibitory intent." Id., at 781 (internal quotation marks omitted).6 On that basis, we held that imposition of the tax after criminal prosecution of the taxpayer violated double jeopardy. The approach taken was thus identical to that followed in Austin. By considering and rejecting each of the asserted "remedial" interests served by the sanction, we reasoned that the tax had an "unmistakable punitive character" that rendered it punishment in all of its applications. 511 U. S., at 783.
The claim that Halper's "case-by-case" method is "impossible to apply" to forfeitures or taxes, ante, at 284, 285, thus misses the point. It is true that since fixed penalties can serve only one remedial end (compensation), it is easy to determine whether a particular fine is punitive in application. Forfeitures and taxes, generally speaking, may have a number of remedial rationales. But to decide if a sanction is punitive, one need only examine each claimed remedial interest and determine whether the sanction actually promotes it. Many of our cases have followed just such an approach, regardless of whether any nonpunitive purpose can be "quantif[ied]," ante, at 284. See, e. g., Austin; One 1958 Plymouth Sedan. The majority itself embarks on such an inquiry in Part II-C of its opinion. Furthermore, even in the context of forfeitures and taxes, nothing prevents a court from deciding that although a sanction is designed to be remedial, its application in a particular case is so extreme as to constitute punishment. Austin, 509 U. S., at 608, n. 4.7
6 Specifically, the tax was conditioned on the commission of a crime, 511 U. S., at 781, and it was levied on goods that the taxpayer did not own or possess at the time of imposition, id., at 783.
7 It is true, as the Court asserts, that a fine will only be considered "excessive" if it is disproportionate to any remedial goal. But Austin established that a forfeiture can also be excessive, although it could serve multiple remedial goals. Hence, I do not understand why the Court maintains that Austin did not prove that forfeitures are punitive. In order to count as a "fine" in the first place, a forfeiture must be capable of being punitive. A penalty that is not a "fine" cannot violate the Excessive Fines
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