United States v. Bajakajian
E666884
United States v. Bajakajian is a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court case that held, for the first time, that a criminal forfeiture could violate the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause if it is grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the offense.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| United States v. Bajakajian canonical | 1 |
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
U.S. Supreme Court case
ⓘ
legal case ⓘ |
| amountInvolved | $357,144 ⓘ |
| areaOfLaw |
constitutional law
ⓘ
criminal law ⓘ forfeiture law ⓘ |
| arguedDate | November 4, 1997 ⓘ |
| citation | 524 U.S. 321 ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvisionInterpreted | Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| constitutionalSignificance | first Supreme Court case to hold a fine unconstitutional under the Excessive Fines Clause ⓘ |
| countryOfCourt | United States NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | June 22, 1998 ⓘ |
| decisionType | majority decision ⓘ |
| dissentingOpinionBy |
Antonin Scalia
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
David H. Souter NERFINISHED ⓘ Stephen G. Breyer NERFINISHED ⓘ William H. Rehnquist NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| docketNumber | 96-1487 ⓘ |
| factPattern | defendant failed to report that he was transporting more than $10,000 out of the United States ⓘ |
| fullName | United States v. Bajakajian NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| holding |
A criminal forfeiture violates the Excessive Fines Clause if it is grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the offense
ⓘ
The Excessive Fines Clause applies to punitive forfeitures in criminal cases ⓘ |
| joinedByInMajority |
Anthony M. Kennedy
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
John Paul Stevens NERFINISHED ⓘ Ruth Bader Ginsburg NERFINISHED ⓘ Sandra Day O’Connor NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| jurisdiction | federal ⓘ |
| languageOfOpinion | English ⓘ |
| legalIssue | scope of the Excessive Fines Clause ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy | Clarence Thomas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| page | 321 ⓘ |
| party |
Hosep Bajakajian
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
United States NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| precedentFor | analysis of proportionality under the Excessive Fines Clause ⓘ |
| relatedStatute |
18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(1)
ⓘ
31 U.S.C. § 5316 ⓘ 31 U.S.C. § 5322 ⓘ |
| reporter | United States Reports ⓘ |
| result | forfeiture order held unconstitutional in part ⓘ |
| subjectMatter | criminal forfeiture of currency ⓘ |
| subsequentCitationFrequency | frequently cited in Eighth Amendment excessive fines jurisprudence ⓘ |
| typeOfForfeiture | criminal forfeiture ⓘ |
| volume | 524 ⓘ |
| yearDecided | 1998 ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.