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Charles Stimson

Charles Stimson

Lawyer and former United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs

Oct 6, 2026

11:19
Now, which other cases, in addition to this, do you think have the best chances of upending some existing sweeping policies?
11:26
I don't know if they're gonna upend any sweeping policies per se, but I think that they'll provide clarification on either constitutional provisions, one in particular that I can talk about, or a statutory interpretation matters.
11:38
The Court has only taken up, believe it or not, five cases in its history, in the nation's history, on what an as- excessive fine means under the Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines Clause.
11:50
And so there's a case out of Alaska called Jalpi versus Alaska where a guy, who's essentially a taxi cab driver, he's a former Air Force vet, who flies a small plane to remote villages in Alaska, uh, as a, essentially a taxi cab service, and he was convicted of the misdemeanor of carrying a six-pack, or t- attempting to carry a six-pack of beer to a dry village.
12:14
The judge gave him a minimum fine, uh, minimum jail sentence for that, uh, but the state appealed that, and they wanted the judge to take his airplane, a $95,000 airplane, uh, compared to the $1,500 fine, as a fine for this misdemeanor.
12:45
What are some other cases that you think are very notable that we should keep our eye on in the coming weeks?
12:50
We're gonna have another Second Amendment case.
12:53
Uh, we've had, remember Heller and then McDonald.

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