Eighth Amendment

The Supreme Court will review an Alaska pilot's claim that state authorities illegally seized his $95,000 airplane after a passenger brought a six-pack of beer to a dry village. The pilot argues the seizure violates the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Clause, while Alaska officials contend the forfeiture aligns with criminal forfeiture laws.

The U.S. Supreme Court will review a case involving Alaska's attempt to seize pilot Kenneth Jouppi's $95,000 plane after a passenger transported six beers to a dry village. Jouppi argues the forfeiture violates the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Clause, while Alaska's attorneys contend the state Supreme Court's decision aligns with addressing alcohol abuse in rural areas.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving Ken Jouppi, an Alaskan pilot whose $95,000 airplane was seized for allegedly transporting a six-pack of beer to a dry village. Jouppi challenges the forfeiture under the Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause, after Alaska courts upheld the penalty.

An Alaska pilot, Ken Jouppi, is challenging a mandatory airplane forfeiture after state troopers found beer in a passenger's luggage during a 2012 flight to a dry village. The Supreme Court agreed to review whether the punishment violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines.

Robert Tulloch, who was convicted of murdering two Dartmouth professors as a teenager over 25 years ago, will be resentenced after a court ruled mandatory life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional. The resentencing hearing, set to begin Monday, could replace his life without parole sentences with 30 to 40 years in prison.

The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to tax foreclosure rules, ruling that the practice of using auctions to collect unpaid real-estate taxes does not violate the Fifth or Eighth Amendments. The case, Pung v Isabella County, involved a home sold for significantly less than its assessed value to recover $2,200 in taxes, with the court affirming that compensation for the property owner should be based on the auction price, not its hypothetical fair market value.

The Supreme Court ruled that a Michigan county's tax sale price determines 'just compensation' for a homeowner, sending the case back to the 6th Circuit to assess procedural fairness. Michael Pung, executor of his nephew's estate, disputed the county's refusal to pay surplus proceeds based on a later higher sale price. The court emphasized historical precedent allowing tax-driven property seizures with surplus returns.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Pung family is not entitled to compensation based on the fair market value of their home seized in a tax foreclosure by Isabella County, but sent the case back to a lower court to assess whether the county overstepped by seizing more property than needed to cover a $2,242 tax debt. The family's home was sold at auction for $76,008, significantly below its assessed market value of $194,000, leading to a dispute over compensation.

The Supreme Court refused to hear Victor Saldaño's intellectual disability defense in his death penalty case, despite Justice Sotomayor's dissent highlighting expert evaluations concluding his intellectual disability. Saldaño's legal team argued his trial attorney failed to present mental health evidence, and Texas courts rejected his habeas application for insufficient evidence.

Washington Supreme Court upheld a $35 million penalty against Meta for violating the Fair Campaign Practices Act by failing to provide complete information about political ads. The court affirmed the lower court's ruling, stating the disclosure law meets 'exacting scrutiny' and is narrowly tailored to ensure election transparency.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Alabama's request to stay a lower court ruling that found the state's nitrogen gas execution protocol unconstitutional, blocking Jeffery Lee's scheduled execution. Lee was convicted of two 1998 murders, but his death sentence was imposed by a judge despite a jury's life imprisonment recommendation. The court's decision upheld concerns about the protocol's potential for causing pain, though it did not issue written opinions.

An 83-year-old woman in Honolulu is suing the city after a rental website glitch led to a $590,000 fine. Sandra May's attorney claims the city's system erroneously displayed short-term rental availability, violating local ordinances, and the city imposed daily fines despite her medical emergency delaying her response.

Alabama is considering nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, which kills by oxygen deprivation. The article argues this violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, criticizing conservative judges for undermining its constitutional protections.

A federal judge blocked Alabama’s nitrogen gas execution protocol, ruling it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The judge allowed Jeffery Lee, scheduled for execution on Thursday, to propose a firing squad as an alternative method.

A federal judge permanently blocked Alabama from executing Jeffrey Lee using nitrogen gas, ruling it unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The judge allowed Alabama to use alternative methods like lethal injection or the electric chair but barred nitrogen gas, which opponents argue causes conscious suffocation. Alabama's attorney general is appealing the decision, which may reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

A federal judge ruled that Louisiana does not need to improve dangerous working conditions on the 'farm line' at Angola prison after a recent appeals court decision weakened the standard for proving Eighth Amendment violations. The ruling, influenced by the Parker v. Hooper case, allows the state to avoid liability if it takes any remedial action, even if ineffective, and found the state met this threshold despite inadequate measures.