Excessive forfeiture

A cold beer is a food staple for some folks. But pilot Kenneth Jouppi has learned the hard way that Alaska law exacts a heavy penalty for anyone who transports alcoholic beverages into a “dry” village: forfeiture of his airplane.

For over 14 years, the air taxi business owner has fought the seizure of his plane by Alaskan authorities as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on “excessive fines.” Last year, Alaska’s highest court upheld the forfeiture of his $95,000 Cessna airplane to the state. But in July, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the ruling.

At issue is how courts should evaluate the proportionality of a forfeiture. Jouppi, who is represented by Institute for Justice attorneys, argues the court should have considered the gravity of the offense by examining the particular facts of his case. He was convicted of only a misdemeanor, and he says that the beer didn’t belong to him but to a customer and he only knew about a six-pack of the 72 beers transported.

But the Alaska Supreme Court concluded that courts should be guided by the legislature’s determination as to what was an appropriate penalty. It said that legislators concluded alcohol abuse was so devastating to isolated, rural communities that even a six-pack of beer “causes grave societal harm.”

Stef Cassella, a former federal prosecutor and forfeiture expert, told WORLD that use of the airplane in the crime, not its value, should be the relevant consideration.

“If that mattered, bush pilots with little equity in their aircraft—because it had little value or was heavily mortgaged—would suffer forfeiture for violating the Alaska statute while a rich guy flying a much more expensive and unencumbered airplane would not,” he said. “That cannot be right.”

AI malpractice?

Who hasn’t checked out symptoms of a medical problem in an internet search? But for Florida Pastor Scott Winters, AI-generated medical advice led him to delay treatment for a serious medical condition.

In July, Winters sued OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, after he developed a pulmonary embolism—an often fatal blood clot in the lungs. He contends the program downplayed his symptoms and even reassured him that “God did not design your body to endlessly fail.”

In the lawsuit filed in a California court, Winters contends his complaints of dizzy spells and blood pressure instability weren’t deemed serious by ChatGPT. “You’re nowhere near the count or depth that leads to long-term total bedbound scenarios,” it told him.

Among other remedies, Winters wants the court to put a hold on the operation of ChatGPT Health, a new health and wellness service, until its safety can be independently evaluated.

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said in a statement that “ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis, or treatment.” —S.W.