US Supreme Court to hear Alaska plane forfeiture case over excessive fines clause

Published Jul 22, 10:00 AM UTC

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Jouppi v. Alaska, a case stemming from the 2012 seizure of Ken Jouppi's $95,000 Cessna airplane. Alaska state troopers arrested Jouppi after a passenger brought three cases of beer into the dry village of Beaver. Despite the offense being a misdemeanor and Jouppi being a first-time offender, state law mandated forfeiture of the aircraft. Jouppi received a suspended fine and jail time, but prosecutors sought the plane's forfeiture, which he argues violates the Eighth Amendment's excessive fines clause. The case will allow the Supreme Court to further clarify the proportionality standard for punitive forfeitures, building on precedents from United States v. Bajakajian (1998) and Timbs v. Indiana (2019). The lower courts remain divided on how to apply the 'grossly disproportional' test.