ENVIRONMENTAL LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Hannah Berg In Williams Alaska Petroleum Inc. v. State, 529 P.3d 1160 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that sulfolane is a hazardous substance pursuant to Alaska Statute (AS) 46.03.826(5)(A) of the Environmental Conservation Act. (Id. at 1177). Williams Alaska Petroleum, Inc. and The Williams Companies, Inc. operated Continue Reading »
LABOR LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Sammy Sawyer In State v. Alaska State Employees Ass’n/American Federation of State, County, 529 P.3d 547 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that neither the First Amendment nor the holding in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31 (138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018)) required employers to obtain union members’ affirmative Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAW Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Olivia Wagner In R.B. v. State, 533 P.3d 542 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023), the court of appeals held that (1) mandatory commitment of an incompetent felony defendant to the Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API) does not violate due process under either the United States or the Alaska Constitution, Continue Reading »
GOVERNMENT Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Allyson Barkley In Matter of 2021 Redistricting Cases, 528 P.3d 40 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court determined the Alaska Redistricting Board’s (the “Board”) state districts to be unconstitutionally gerrymandered. (Id. at 102). After the 2020 Census results were released, the Board created a redistricting plan. (Id. at 61). It Continue Reading »
ELECTION LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Sarah Edwards In Guerin v. State, 537 P.3d 770 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that the Division of Elections (“Division”) properly applied a 64-day time limit for candidate replacement, which prevented the inclusion of the fifth-place candidate on a special general election ballot, and that this exclusion Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL JUSTICE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Shaun Thompson In Alaska Public Defender Agency v. Superior Court, 530 P.30 604 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023), the court of appeals held that a trial court may not toll the speedy trial clock if a defendant affirmatively objects to defense counsel’s motion for continuance. (Id. at 616). Continue Reading »
REAL PROPERTY Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Johanna Crisman In Guilford v. Weidner Investment Services, Inc., 522 P.3d 1085 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that under the Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act (URLTA), a tenant may recover damages from the discomfort, annoyance, and mental distress attributable to violations of warranty of habitability. (Id.) In Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAW Court of Appeals of Alaska (2023) Cindy Cheng In Douglas v. State, 527 P.3d 291 (Alaska Ct. App. 2023), the court of appeals held that a defendant is entitled to in camera review of privileged mental health records if he shows a reasonable likelihood that the records contain exculpatory evidence that relevant to Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit (2023) Catherine Cole In Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Fish & Wildlife Service, 67 F.4th 1027 (9th Cir. 2023), the Ninth Circuit decided a government entity’s designations of areas as either an occupied critical habitat or as an unoccupied critical habitat were arbitrary and Continue Reading »
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2023) Cara Shanahan In AVCG, LLC v. State, 527 P.3d 272 (Alaska 2023), the supreme court held that an agency engages in rulemaking if its interpretation of an existing regulation adds requirements of substance, is unforeseeable, or changes the agency’s approach. (Id. at 281). The Alaska Venture Capital Group, LLC (AVCG) Continue Reading »
