United States v. Bajakajian

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United States v. Bajakajian

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued November 4, 1997
Decided June 22, 1998


Full case name:	United States v. Hosep Krikor Bajakajian

Citations:	524 U.S. 321; 118 S. Ct. 2028; 141 L. Ed. 2d 314; 1998 U.S. LEXIS 4172; 66 U.S.L.W. 4514; 98 Cal. Daily Op. Service 4757; 98 Daily Journal DAR 6736; 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3239; 11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 662

Prior history:	Forfeiture order affirmed, 84 F.3d 334 (9th Cir. 1996); cert. granted, 520 U.S. 1239 (1997)

Holding

Forfeiture of $357,144 for violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5316, requiring reporting of all international movements of currency with value over $10,000, violates the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines clause.

Court membership

Chief Justice: William Rehnquist
Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer

Case opinions

Majority by: Thomas
Joined by: Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer
Dissent by: Kennedy
Joined by: Rehnquist, O'Connor, Scalia

Laws applied

U.S. Const. Amend. VIII; 18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(1);
31 U.S.C. §§ 5316(a)(1)(A), 5322(a)

United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321 (1998),^[1] is a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the Excessive Fines clause of the Eighth Amendment. This case is the only occasion on which the Supreme Court has held that an imposed fine was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.

[edit] Case history

Bajakajian had attempted to leave the United States with $357,144 without reporting this to customs officials as required by 31 U.S.C. § 5316, which requires the reporting of all international movements of currency with value in excess of $10,000. The Government sought forfeiture of the entirety of the $357,144. None of the money was connected with any other criminal action whatsoever.

Bajakajian pleaded guilty to failure to report and opted for a bench trial on the forfeiture of the $357,144. A District Court Judge found the forfeiture of the whole $357,144 to be grossly disproportionate and in violation of the Eighth Amendment. He ordered forfeiture of $15,000 in addition to the maximum fine of $5,000 and three years probation for failure to report. Bajakajian had been eligible for six months in prison, but the Judge did not impose this sentence.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the decision of the District Court, and in fact stated its willingness to go further by ruling that the forfeiture of any of the currency was unconstitutional. Unfortunately for Bajakajian, he had not appealed the forfeiture to the Ninth Circuit, and they were thus unable to set it aside.

[edit] Supreme Court decision

The case was argued before the Supreme Court on November 4, 1997 and decided on June 22, 1998. The Opinion of the Court was delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer. Justice Anthony Kennedy dissented, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor and Scalia.