Supreme Court to hear Alaska pilot's excessive-fines case; columnist cites other penalties

Right · 2The US Supreme Court will hear a case about excessive fines brought by Ken Jouppi, an Alaska pilot, according to a column by John Stossel. The column says one of several excessive-fine cases has reached the court. 1 2 Right · 2Jouppi flew in Alaska for 30 years. State troopers stopped his plane before takeoff, searched it and found beer in a passenger's groceries. Some Alaska towns ban beer, and Jouppi was convicted of bootlegging. 1 2 Right · 2Alaskan officials say the beer was visible, so Jouppi should have known about it. They jailed him for three days and seized his plane. His lawyer, Mike Greenberg of the Institute for Justice, says Jouppi has fought for 14 years to keep the plane, which still sits on a tarmac. 1 2

Right · 2The column also describes retired professor Tuncay Saydam. It says the IRS demands more than $400,000 over a missed one-page form about an old bank account in Turkey, although his unpaid tax is under $30,000. It says a California court upheld the penalty. Judge Donna Ryu wrote that the government "suffered a significant tax loss." 1 2 Right · 2In Humboldt County, California, officials used aerial photos to look for unlicensed marijuana farms and fined owners of greenhouses. Blu Graham says the fine was $900,000, at $30,000 a day, for growing vegetables. Greenberg says no marijuana was found on the property. The column says a lawsuit led the county to promise to end its fine system. 1 2 Right · 2Greenberg argues that governments keep heavy fines because they bring in money, since prosecutors and troopers keep the proceeds. Stossel writes that he invited the judges and government lawyers to explain the fines in his video and none agreed. He says he hopes the Supreme Court will stop the abuses. 1 2