Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Kenneth J. Jouppi v. Alaska
Paid petition · Supreme Court of Alaska, No. S-18598, S-18637 · judgment April 18, 2025
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
The "touchstone of the constitutional inquiry under the Excessive Fines Clause" is that the amount of the fine "must bear some relationship to the gravity of the offense that it is designed to punish." United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321,334 (1998). Below, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld the forfeiture of petitioner's $95,000 airplane because, the court reasoned, petitioner knew that one of his passenger's grocery bags contained a sixpack of Budweiser. In so holding, the court captured vividly a lower-court conflict over the standard for evaluating the gravity of a property owner's offense under the Excessive Fines Clause. Aligning with the Eleventh Circuit, the Alaska Supreme Court examined the gravity of the defendant's offense at a stratospheric level of abstraction. Meanwhile, the federal circuit in which Alaska sits-in line with many other state and federal courts-holds that "[i]t is critical" to "review the specific actions of the violator rather than by taking an abstract view of the violation." The question presented is whether, in determining whether a fine contravenes the Excessive Fines Clause, courts may consider the gravity of the underlying offense purely in the abstract or should consider the gravity of the specific defendant's wrongdoing.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Samuel Bracken Gedge
Institute for Justice
For respondent
Donald Earl Soderstrom
State of Alaska, Office of Criminal Appeals
Proceedings
- Sep 03 2026Brief of Kenneth Jouppi submitted.
- Jul 27 2026Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner Kenneth Jouppi.
- Jul 20 2026Petition GRANTED.
- Jun 29 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/29/2026.
- Jun 25 2026Supplemental brief of petitioner Kenneth Jouppi filed.
- Nov 25 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/12/2025.
- Nov 24 2025Reply of petitioner Kenneth Jouppi filed. (Distributed)
- Nov 20 2025Waiver of the 14-day waiting period for the distribution of the petition pursuant to Rule 15.5 filed by petitioners.
- Nov 17 2025Brief of respondent Alaska in opposition filed.
- Oct 17 2025Brief amicus curiae of Cato Institute filed.
- Oct 17 2025Brief amicus curiae of Professor Beth A. Colgan filed.
- Oct 17 2025Brief amicus curiae of Tyson Timbs filed.
- Sep 29 2025Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including November 17, 2025.
- Sep 26 2025Motion to extend the time to file a response from October 17, 2025 to November 17, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
- Sep 17 2025Response Requested. (Due October 17, 2025)
- Sep 10 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2025.
- Sep 04 2025Waiver of right of respondent Alaska to respond filed.
- Aug 29 2025Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 3, 2025)
- Jun 26 2025Application (24A1287) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until September 2, 2025.
- Jun 24 2025Application (24A1287) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 17, 2025 to September 2, 2025, submitted to Justice Kagan.