The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Alaska forfeiture dispute involving a Cessna 206 flown by bush pilot Kenneth Jouppi, setting up a review of whether the state’s seizure of the aircraft after an alcohol transport case violates the Constitution’s Excessive Fines Clause. The aircraft, later described as worth about $95,000, was confiscated after a 2012 flight to Beaver, a dry village in Alaska.
Jouppi was convicted of a misdemeanor alcohol-transportation offence after a passenger’s beer was found on board the aircraft. Alaska’s courts upheld the forfeiture, leaving the Supreme Court to examine whether taking the plane is a disproportionate punishment for the underlying offence.
The appeal, backed by the Institute for Justice, has become a closely watched test of how far state civil forfeiture powers extend under the Eighth Amendment. The case could influence future disputes in which authorities seek property forfeiture for relatively minor offences, particularly where the value of the seized asset far exceeds the value of the conduct at issue.