September 23, 2026
Alaska Drunk on Power
Timothy Birdnow
I'll bet if he was flying marijuana in he would have been fine.
FTA:
The case dates to 2012, when longtime Alaska charter pilot Ken Jouppi agreed to fly a passenger from Fairbanks to Beaver, where alcohol was prohibited. The passenger had 72 cans of beer in her luggage. Most were boxed, but a six-pack was visible in a grocery bag.
Troopers found the alcohol before takeoff. Jouppi was convicted of a misdemeanor after a court determined he had been willfully blind to the beer. He received three days in jail and a $1,500 fine, but Alaska law also required forfeiture of his airplane, worth about $95,000.
Just for flying BEER into a dry county!
America tried prohibition and found it did no good for society. It just increased crime (and for that matter drinking; my grandfather, who drank little, made moonshine during that period) and it did little to prevent alcoholism. You can always make booze in your own home to drink.
The really ridiculous thing is that the state supreme court upheld the judgment. Their reasoning is that the state has a compelling interest in controlling drinking by residents, who literally have nothing to do in their lives during the winter months. The justices on the court apparently do not see this as excessive. It most certainly fits "cruel and unusual punishment", especially the loss of the beer!
This is the kind of thing that leads people to go postal and shoot up a court or whatnot. Juppi was not just wronged - he was abused something awful by the state of Alaska.
Alaska should be a deep red state. The people there pride themselves on being independent and self-reliant. But it's purple at best and the government is quick to send people to jail. Oh, and it is socialistic too; they give dividend checks for oil sales to the residents (the dad and son on the t.v. show Bush People went to prison for taking the dividend while living half-time in the lower 48). I did not know they had dry counties. That suggests a nanny-state attitude in the state that treats people like children. If a guy wants a drink it's his business; if he drives drunk or whatnot then it becomes the states. Otherwise the state should bugger off.
No wonder Alaska has foisted off Lisa Murkowski on America.
Seems to me this is fertile ground for organized crime. I wonder if Alaska has it's own version of the Dixie Mafia?
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
09:37 AM
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Posted by: at September 26, 2026 02:19 AM (51el8)
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