News & Commentary

In light of health and safety measures taken by the Alaska Court System in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the April 15 oral argument in the ACLU of Alaska’s lawsuit against Governor Michael J. Dunleavy has been vacated. Superior Court Judge Jennifer Henderson is expected to rule without holding any further hearings.

The ACLU of Alaska offered guidance to Anchorage officials, as the Municipality takes restrictive measures to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Anyone with concerns or problems regarding these new measures should contact [email protected].

ANCHORAGE —Alaska leaders should heed public health experts’ advice and immediately release individuals in detention who are at high risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19, and urgently implement a series of proactive measures to ensure the safety of those interacting with the criminal legal system during the pandemic, ACLU of Alaska Policy Director Triada Stampas wrote in a letter to Governor Michael Dunleavy and Chief Justice Joel Bolger. In order to quickly identify issues related to COVID-19, the ACLU of Alaska has launched a new hotline, [email protected], for Alaskans to report conditions in the criminal legal system that create heightened risk.

We're actively monitoring how COVID-19 and reactions to it may impact civil liberties. Every member of our team is dedicated to ensuring this work continues, we know our democracy depends on it.  

ANCHORAGE – The ACLU of Alaska has taken the next step to ensure that the integrity of the independent judiciary, and the Constitutional guarantee of the separation of powers is upheld in the State of Alaska. On February 21, 2020, the ACLU of Alaska asked the court to rule on Governor Michael Dunleavy’s unprecedented decision to reduce the FY 20 Alaska Court System funding in retaliation for an Alaska Supreme Court ruling at odds with his own personal beliefs.

This morning, the ACLU of Alaska, the ACLU's Racial Justice Program, and Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller & Monkman, LLP filed suit against the City of Nome, Alaska and the former law enforcement officials who, in a display of systemic bias against Alaska Native women, failed to investigate hundreds of sexual assaults reported to the Nome Police Department, including Clarice "Bun" Hardy's.

The 31st Legislative Session is underway in Alaska's coastal capital and tension is already building, as pressure to solve Alaska's fiscal crisis increases with a proposed budget from Governor Michael Dunleavy that drains Alaska's savings and has divided lawmakers, some of whom are looking at earnings from the permanent fund to help reduce the deficit.

Currently, thousands of families are living in the same state of uncertainly and with the fear that they’ll never been reunited with the ones they love. Detainees are most often housed in for-profit detention centers, and forced to live in brutal, inhumane conditions of confinement.

This morning, the ACLU of Alaska sent a demand letter to Governor Michael J. Dunleavy, on behalf of former Alaska State Council on the Arts Visual and Literary Arts Program Director, Keren Lowell. Ms. Lowell lost her job after the governor eliminated the Council as part of a series of unprecedented budget cuts. When funding was restored weeks later, Ms. Lowell was denied rehire in retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights.