> They're for things where they generally could never hope to convince a jury the fines are reasonable for

Juries don't determine sentencing, either. The Seventh Amendment has broadly been interpreted to preserve jury trials for most civil liability, including from the federal government.

> Municipalities...

Not federal!

> All of this civil enforcement stuff is basically BS end runs around the rights that people (even legal fictions of people) are supposed to have Not a federal issue!

...do you know the difference between a civil and a criminal case?

> doesn't change the fact pattern of serious fines being issued

Straw man. Nobody argued civil penalties aren't serious.

> without the accused party having any real rights of due process beyond hiring someone who knows their shit

...how do you think criminal proceedings work?

This is a wild conversation. I've gone from being somewhat sympathetic to your argument to now wondering if that entire platform is baseless. (I'm increasingly convinced we need a principles of law course mandated in high school. It doesn't even need to be a full year. But our republic suffers when folks don't understand the basics.)