CONTRACT LAWUnited States District Court, District of AlaskaRobert BulkaIn Borgman v. Yamaha Motor Corp., USA, 2022 WL 13918852 (D. Alaska 2022), the district courtheld that a boat manufacturer’s alleged failure to comply with a limited warranty, while potentiallya breach of contract, did not constitute an unfair trade practice under the Alaska Unfair TradePractices Act (UTPA). Continue Reading »
TORT LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Flora LipskyIn James v. General Dynamics, 582 F.Supp.3d 673 (D. Alaska 2022), the district court held that,under Alaska tort law, a manufacturer and on–demand maintenance–service provider did not owea duty of care to inspect an U.S. Army–owned Stryker armored vehicle that struck and killed alongshoreman in an Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAWSupreme Court of Alaska (2022)Elza BouhassiraIn State v. Graham, 513 P.3d 1046 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that a drunk driver’ssentence should be vacated because the court failed to preview and edit tribute videos beforeplaying them at the sentencing hearing. (Id. at 1071). A drunk driver lost control of his truck andkilled two Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Joseph PerryIn Alaska Wildlife Alliance v. Haaland, 2022 WL 17422412 (D. Alaska 2022), the district courtheld unlawful a National Park Service (NPS) rule permitting certain hunting practices on NationalPreserve land in Alaska on the grounds that it was an arbitrary and capricious abuse of NPS’spower. (Id. at Continue Reading »
PROPERTY LAWSupreme Court of Alaska (2022)Sarah CouillardIn Ahtna, Inc. v. State, Department of Natural Resources, 520 P.3d 131 (Alaska 2022), the supremecourt held that certain statutory rights of way were limited to uses reasonably necessary for“highway” purposes as the word was defined in 1969. (Id. at 138, 141). Under a statute governingconstruction of highways over Continue Reading »
CONSTITUTIONAL LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Alex BartlowIn Howell v. Municipality of Anchorage, 2022 WL 17736788 (D. Alaska 2022), the district courtheld that a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether a SWAT team’s use of projectilesand chemical agents against a mentally ill man was reasonable, precluding a grant a summaryjudgment Continue Reading »
ELECTION LAWSupreme Court of Alaska (2022)Sarah BrooksIn Kohlhaas v. State, 518 P.3d 1095 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court upheld the constitutionalityof both open primaries and ranked choice voting for general elections approved by a ballotinitiative, Initiative 2. (Id. at 1100–01). Kohlhaas argued that Initiative 2 violated free speechrights by allowing candidates to identify with a Continue Reading »
NATIVE LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Kristiana OlsonIn Southcentral Foundation v. Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 2022 WL 2834283 (D.Alaska 2022), the district court held that a tribal healthcare organization was entitled to privilegeddocuments relating to its governance and participation rights in Alaska Native Tribal HealthConsortium (ANTHC). (Id. at *14). ANTHC is a Continue Reading »
PROPERTY LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Rachel ReissIn Kloosterboer International Forwarding LLC v. United States, Department of HomelandSecurity, 604 F.3d 853 (D. Alaska 2022), the district court held that a transporter of frozenseafood products from Alaska to the east coast of the United States did not qualify for the ThirdProviso exception to the Continue Reading »
NATIVE LAWSupreme Court of Alaska (2022)Sam MacDuffieIn State, Department of Health & Social Services v. Cissy A., 513 P.3d 999 (Alaska 2022), thesupreme court found that although the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) does not require culturalexpert testimony in every case, the lower court did not err by finding specific cultural testimonyinsufficient in two cases. Continue Reading »
