United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321 (1998), is a U.S. Supreme Court case holding that asset forfeiture is unconstitutional when it is "grossly disproportional to the gravity of the defendant’s offense", citing the Excessive Fines clause of the Eighth Amendment. It was the first time the Court struck down the federal government's "aggressive use of forfeiture" and the only time it has held that an imposed fine was unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Background In 1993, Syrian immigrant Hosep Bajakajian and his family tried to fly from Los Angeles to Cyprus via Italy with $357,144 in their luggage in order to pay a debt. The federal government sought forfeiture of the entire sum under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which requires all international currency transfers exceeding $10,000 in value to be reported on a Currency and Other Monetary Instruments Report (CMIR); the BSA also allows forfeiture of "any property, real or personal" in cases of violations. None of the money was found to have been connected with any other criminal action whatsoever. He was also initially charged with lying to customs, which was later dropped. Bajakajian pleaded guilty to failure to report and opted for a bench trial on the forfeiture of the $357,144. A United States 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. In 1996, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision and 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. Opinion of the Court 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, who was joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer. Justice Anthony Kennedy dissented, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justice O'Connor and Justice Scalia. At issue was the Bank Secrecy Act, which provided that violators face forfeiture of "any property, real or personal".