CONSTITUTIONAL LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Scott Anderson In State v. Alaska Legislative Council, 515 P.3d 117 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that the Alaska state legislature could not appropriate future education funds from a future fiscal year’s budget. (Id. at 119). In 2018, the legislature passed and the governor signed a law Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAW Court of Appeals of Alaska (2022) Sarah Couillard In Frankson v. State, 518 P.3d 743 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), the court of appeals held that a trial court may consider an aggravating factor based on a defendant’s prior conviction when deciding whether to reject a sentencing agreement as too lenient. (Id. at 746). Continue Reading »
PROPERTY LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Sarah Brooks In Wayson v. Stevenson, 514 P.3d 1263 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that if a deed of easement allows for a right to use a roadway for any means that the landowner may deem “necessary or appropriate” without further restriction, the landowner may use the Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2022) Sam MacDuffie In Lee v. State, 507 P.3d 483 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), as revised on reh’g (Apr. 25, 2022), the court of appeals held that (1) a witness’s lack of memory does not make him unavailable for purposes of the Confrontation Clause, and (2) voluntary felony guilty pleas Continue Reading »
NATIVE LAW/FAMILY LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Robert Bulka In Mona J. v. State, Department of Health & Social Services, 511 P.3d 553 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that while a lack of parental cooperation with the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) does not justify making only passive efforts to provide remedial services Continue Reading »
TORT LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Rachel Reiss In Sulzbach v. City & Borough of Sitka, 517 P.3d 7 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that the City and a nonprofit volunteer were not liable for an accident that injured an event dancer. (Id. at 10). An independent nonprofit organization planned to host an Continue Reading »
FAMILY LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Kristiana Olson In Husby v. Monegan, 517 P.3d 20 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that a statute allowing modification of visitation orders applies to grandparents and that the parental preference rule does not apply when a grandparent has already been granted visitation. (Id. at 23). After a Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (2022) Joe Perry In Wright v. State, 47 F.4th 954 (9th Cir. 2022), the Ninth Circuit held that an individual may not assert a conviction predicated on a previous conviction in another state as the basis for a habeas corpus petition for the original conviction. (Id. Continue Reading »
HEALTH LAW Supreme Court of Alaska (2022) Jake Sherman In In re Jonas H., 513 P.3d 1019 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that the superior court must explicitly make or incorporate findings relevant to every contested Myers factor to grant an order for the involuntary administration of psychotropic medication. (Id. at 1026). Jonas’s schizophrenia Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Court of Appeals of Alaska (2022) Flora Lipsky In Sackett v. State, 518 P.3d 289 (Alaska Ct. App. 2022), the court of appeals held that the mere assignment of a public defense agency does not satisfy a defendant’s right to counsel. (Id. at 292). Following conviction and sentencing, criminal defendant Sackett filed a Continue Reading »
