Overview
Should a pilot lose his airplane because a passenger packed beer? John Stossel looks at penalties critics call far out of proportion to the offense: Alaska bush pilot Ken Jouppi’s forfeited $95,000 plane, a retired professor’s $400,000 penalty for missing a one-page federal form, and Humboldt County, California, fines of $30,000 a day over greenhouses. Institute for Justice attorneys explain the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “excessive fines” and why governments that keep what they collect have reasons to keep collecting. Jouppi’s case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, so students can follow it as it unfolds.

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Lesson Insights

Grade level and subjects
• Recommended for grades 6-12
• Subjects: Government, Economics
• Works in Classroom, Hybrid, and Homeschool settings

What students will learn
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
• explain what the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “excessive fines” means and how the Fourteenth Amendment applies it to state and local governments;
• analyze how letting agencies keep fines and forfeitures shapes the choices of the officials who impose them;
• compare arguments for and against calling a penalty excessive, using the proportionality test courts apply; and
• defend a position on how courts should decide whether a fine is excessive, using evidence from the video and the Constitution.

Key concepts and terms covered
Due Process, Eighth Amendment, Excessive Fines Clause, Forfeiture, Gross Disproportionality, Incentive, Incorporation, Institute for Justice, Proportionality, and Writ of Certiorari.

Sample discussion questions
• Why did Alaska officials take Ken Jouppi’s airplane?
• What makes a fine “excessive”? Who gets to decide?
• Would you trust a referee who earned a bonus for every penalty he called? Why or why not?
• Alaska’s Supreme Court said even a six-pack “causes grave societal harm.” Does that justify taking a $95,000 plane?
• The Supreme Court will hear Jouppi’s case. What would you argue if you were Alaska’s lawyer?

What’s in the free teacher’s guide
This printable 20-page Teacher’s Guide includes a lesson description, learning objectives, key vocabulary, a fill-in viewing guide with answer key, discussion and analysis questions, classroom activities, and the full video transcript.

Related resources
• When Cops Become Robbers — Can police take your money without charging you with a crime? Stossel looks at civil asset forfeiture through the stories of people whose cash and property were seized.
• Little Pink House: 20 Years Later — What happens when government takes a home and gives it to a private developer? A look back at Susette Kelo’s fight, another Institute for Justice case that reached the Supreme Court.
• Lessons in Lyrics: Incentives Matter — Why do people do what they do? A song-based lesson on how rewards and costs shape the choices people make.
• Taken Without a Trial: Taxes, Civil Asset Forfeiture, and Property Rights — An SITC.org blog post connecting tax season to civil asset forfeiture and the protection of property.