Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 395.0

524US2

Unit: $U89

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350

UNITED STATES v. BAJAKAJIAN

Kennedy, J., dissenting

(1996). Most forfeitures of proceeds, as a consequence, are
not ﬁnes at all, let alone excessive ﬁnes. Hence, the lawful-
ness of the money shows at most that the forfeiture was a
ﬁne; it cannot at the same time prove that the ﬁne was
excessive.

B
1

In assessing whether there is a gross disproportion, the
majority concedes, we must grant “ ‘substantial deference’ ”
to Congress’ choice of penalties. Ante, at 336 (quoting
Solem, supra, at 290). Yet, ignoring its own command, the
Court sweeps aside Congress’ reasoned judgment and substi-
tutes arguments that are little more than speculation.

Congress considered currency smuggling and nonre-
porting a serious crime and imposed commensurate pen-
alties.
It authorized punishments of ﬁve years’ imprison-
ment, a $250,000 ﬁne, plus forfeiture of all the undeclared
cash.
31 U. S. C. § 5322(a); 18 U. S. C. § 982(a)(1). Congress
found the offense standing alone is a serious crime, for the
same statute doubles the ﬁnes and imprisonment for failures
to report cash “while violating another law of the United
States.”
31 U. S. C. § 5322(b). Congress experimented
with lower penalties on the order of one year in prison plus a
$1,000 ﬁne, but it found the punishments inadequate to deter
lucrative money laundering. See President’s Commission on
Organized Crime, The Cash Connection: Organized Crime,
Financial Institutions, and Money Laundering 27, 60 (Oct.
1984). The Court today rejects this judgment.

The Court rejects the congressional judgment because, it
says, the Sentencing Guidelines cap the appropriate ﬁne at
$5,000. See ante, at 338–339, and n. 14. The purpose of the
Guidelines, however, is to select punishments with precise
proportion, not to opine on what is a gross disproportion.
In
addition, there is no authority for elevating the Commission’s
judgment of what is prudent over the congressional judg-