News & Commentary

Today, the ACLU of Alaska filed suit against Governor Dunleavy to block his administration’s attempt to punish the Alaska Court System by vetoing $334,700 in its 2020 budget because the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in a manner at odds with his political views.

The Governor candidly admitted that he vetoed this allocation in retaliation for the Alaska Supreme Court’s substantive decisions. Withholding court system funding in an attempt to control judicial decisions is a stunning attack on the separation of powers, which is crucial to our democracy.

House Bill 49 is bad policy, fraught with attacks on the rights and protections guaranteed to all Alaskans under the U.S. and Alaska constitutions. Among these include protections against excessive government fines, as well as the rights to bail and the presumption of innocence.

Brian Hall, a Cherokee Indian who is currently a prisoner at Goose Creek Correctional Center (GCCC), wants nothing more than to practice and express his faith by wearing items with personal religious significance, a right denied to him by the Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC).

ACLU of Alaska implores Rep. Fields and his colleagues to relocate their humanity and commit to finding legal and compassionate solutions to Anchorage’s homelessness issues.

In 2017, Clarice Hardy, then a Nome Police dispatcher, reported to police that she was sexually assaulted in her apartment. The morning after the assault, she learned of a video of the incident circulating on social media. Even with her close connection to the Nome Police Department, Hardy was unable to get them to actively investigate her report.

Senators acknowledged what most legislators and engaged members of the public can clearly see from the data provided by the Dunleavy administration during legislative briefings — the system we had before SB 91 didn’t work, so just repealing the bill and going back to that system isn’t the answer.

As America’s oldest watchdog of civil liberties, we find it troubling any time a public official abuses the authority placed with them to silence political views with which they personally disagree. The 1st Amendment makes expressly clear that is not the appropriate role of government.

Today, Mayor Jim Matherly sent the clear message that it is okay to discriminate in Fairbanks by vetoing LGBTQ non-discrimination protections. The mayor has taken this deeply misguided action despite strong support from the Fairbanks City Council.