The Supreme Court will hear a case over whether Alaska imposed an unconstitutional excessive fine by seizing a man’s plane after he errantly transported a six-pack of beer to a town that outlaws alcohol.
The high court said on Monday that it would take up arguments in Jouppi v. Alaska for its upcoming term. The case deals with whether Kenneth Jouppi’s Eighth Amendment rights were violated when the state seized his $95,000 plane after one of his passengers brought a six-pack of Budweiser into a village where it is unlawful to have alcohol. Jouppi’s lawyers asked the high court whether the excessive fines clause of the Eighth Amendment requires a court to look at the “gravity of the underlying offense purely in the abstract or should consider the gravity of the specific defendant’s wrongdoing.”
“For over a decade, the State of Alaska has been trying to forfeit bush pilot Ken Jouppi’s 1969 Cessna airplane. The basis: One of Jouppi’s passengers had beer in her luggage, and the State maintained that one six-pack, at least, would have been visible to Jouppi,” the petition to the Supreme Court said.
“For certain Alaskan villages, it’s a crime to bring in alcohol. And when the means of importation is an airplane, the plane is subject to forfeiture,” the petition continued. “No matter that the offense is a misdemeanor. As here. No matter that the pilot is a first-time offender. As here. No matter that the alcohol is a six-pack of Budweiser. As here. No matter that it belonged to a customer. As here. The result: an airplane forfeited for a six-pack. The Excessive Fines Clause was built for cases like this.”
The legal battle has been ongoing since the 2012 incident, and the Alaska Supreme Court has upheld the state’s bid to seize Jouppi’s plane. Jouppi petitioned his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear arguments sometime between October and April 2027.
“I’m thrilled that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear this case, because this case isn’t just about me or my airplane anymore,” Jouppi said in a statement on Monday. “I’m in my 80s now, and I’ve been fighting this for over a decade because I see it as my duty to ensure that the Bill of Rights actually means something in protecting against government overreach.”
SUPREME COURT’S COLORADO CATHOLIC PRESCHOOL CASE COULD HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR JEWISH SCHOOL SECURITY
The Supreme Court’s next term will begin on Oct. 5, when it hears arguments in a case yet to be scheduled. The term will continue with oral arguments through the end of April 2027, with all opinions in the argued cases expected by the end of June 2027.
Among the other notable cases set for the next term are disputes over Colorado barring Catholic preschools from its universal preschool program and various state “assault weapons” bans.