An 82-year-old bush pilot from Alaska is taking his legal battle over a $95,000 airplane and a few cans of beer all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to his legal team.

Kenneth Jouppi, with the assistance of the Institute for Justice, is challenging a decision by the Alaska Supreme Court. This decision upheld the seizure of his plane, a penalty Jouppi contends breaches the Constitution’s prohibition against excessive fines, as highlighted in a statement on the institute’s website.

Back on April 3, 2012, Jouppi, an Air Force veteran and the proprietor of KenAir LLC, prepared to fly a passenger along with her groceries from Fairbanks to Beaver, a small, isolated village in Alaska situated roughly 110 miles north.

Unbeknownst to Kenneth Jouppi, he was transporting alcohol to a dry village in Alaska, prompting his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to the Institute for Justice, “Within the passenger’s luggage were three cases of beer—two of Budweiser and one of Bud Light—meant as a present for her husband, the local postmaster in Beaver.”

Before Jouppi could take off, Alaska State Troopers searched the plane and found the beer. Jouppi insisted he had no knowledge of it, but prosecutors charged him with knowingly transporting alcohol into a dry village.

Beaver voted in 2004 to ban alcohol importation.  Jouppi was convicted, fined $1,500 and sentenced to three days in jail, which is the statutory minimum penalty.

The Institute for Justice is helping Kenneth Jouppi petition the U.S. Supreme Court. (Kenneth Jouppi/Institute for Justice)

According to court documents reviewed by Fox News Digital, prosecutors moved to seize Jouppi’s Cessna U206D aircraft, valued at approximately $95,000, under Alaska Statute 04.16.220(a)(3)(C), which mandates forfeiture of vehicles used to transport alcohol illegally.

Lower courts initially sided with Jouppi, finding that confiscating an entire airplane over the cases of beer was excessive. 

But, in 2024, the Alaska Supreme Court reversed the decision. The justices acknowledged that forfeiture is a form of fine under the Eighth Amendment but ruled that it was not grossly disproportional to the offense.

In June 2025, Jouppi then filed his petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., June 24, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the Institute for Justice, Jouppi’s case is about more than one man’s airplane, but about safeguarding Americans from excessive financial penalties imposed by the government.

“Ken is not giving up the fight. Instead, he’s partnered with the Institute for Justice to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and give much-needed clarity to what constitutes an unconstitutionally excessive fine,” a spokesperson said.

“In an era where enforcement agencies (in the Supreme Court’s words) ‘increasingly depend heavily on fines and fees as a source of general revenue,’ it’s critical that the Court invigorate the Bill of Rights’ Excessive Fines Clause in a way that better secures protections for ordinary people nationwide.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Institute for Justice for further comment.