The US Supreme Court will hear a case in December concerning whether Alaska's seizure of an 82-year-old man's aircraft constitutes an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment. Kenneth Jouppi's 1969 Cessna, valued at approximately $95,000, was confiscated after state troopers found a six-pack of beer on board during a 2012 search—a beverage Jouppi claimed he was unaware his passenger possessed. The case hinges on a fundamental question about proportionality in government penalties: whether the forfeiture of a $95,000 asset is a disproportionate response to a misdemeanour conviction for importing alcohol into a "dry" village.

Jouppi was sentenced to merely three days in jail and a $1,500 fine for the misdemeanour, whilst Alaska argues the plane's value remained below ten times the maximum $10,000 penalty permissible for the offence. His legal team contends that proportionality should be measured against the actual sentence imposed rather than the maximum possible penalty. Legal experts cite the principle as tracing back eight centuries to the Magna Carta of 1215, suggesting the Court may view the seizure as an egregious abuse of governmental power warranting a broad ruling in Jouppi's favour.