A 6-pack of beer sounds pretty innocuous, right? Well, not to the Alaskan Supreme Court.
Alaskan bush pilot Kenneth Jouppi was convicted of an alcohol-related misdemeanor charge. And now, the Alaska Supreme Court want to take his $95,000 Cessna from him, per the New York Post.
In case you're thinking he drank whilst flying - no, that wasn't the case. Jouppi was taking a passenger from Fairbanks to a remote village where alcohol was banned.
And his passenger had unfortunately packed a 6-pack of Budweiser as a part of her groceries. That led to both Jouppi, his company, and the passenger with the misdemeanor of "knowingly transporting an alcoholic beverage into a dry community".
Following the incident, a judge sent Jouppi to three days in jail. He says that was enough - but then, they tried to take his plane, too.
And he's been fighting it ever since: and now, it's reaching the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court have agreed to hear the case.
"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," he explained.
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He Says The Beer Related Seizure Violates His Bill of Rights
Jouppi, along with his attorneys, explained that taking the Cessna would violate his rights. His case hinges on the Eighth Amendment's "Excessive Fines Clause."
The clause states that "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." This basically means that any fines or bail should be proportional to the crime committed.
More specifically, Jouppi's attorneys have argued that they evaluated his conduct "purely in abstract terms." They claim they didn't consider his wider conduct, and whether it was a "part of a broader pattern of criminal activity."
"Few excessive fines cases will present the issue so sharply; a decision upholding the forfeiture of an airplane for a six-pack is a self-recommending candidate for review," his attorneys wrote.
Hearings for the case begin in the fall. Best of luck to him!
