Justice
Tribes, State Troopers increase access to justice for Alaska Native survivors of domestic violence
In remote parts of Alaska, justice and safety are hard for domestic violence survivors to access. Law enforcement is scarce and usually arrives after harm happens. But there is a tool that allows law enforcement officers to stop domestic violence before it starts: a domestic violence protective order. A domestic violence protective order, or DVPO, […]
Federal judge dismisses lawsuits seeking to halt Alaska’s Willow oil drilling project
Alaska’s largest oil drilling project in decades will continue toward production. On Thursday, a federal court judge in Anchorage dismissed two challenges against ConocoPhillips’ Willow project, saying plaintiffs failed to show that the federal government made significant mistakes when it approved the project. Some of those plaintiffs, which include a constellation of local and national […]
Federal judge rules against state of Alaska in lawsuit challenging COVID emergency hunt
A federal judge in Anchorage has ruled that U.S. government officials did not overstep when they allowed an emergency hunt near the Southeast Alaska town of Kake during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision, published Friday by Judge Sharon Gleason, is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute between the state of […]
U.S. Supreme Court considers case dealing with gun rights and domestic violence
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court justices during Tuesday’s oral arguments seemed to lean toward upholding a federal law that prevents the possession of firearms by a person who is subject to a domestic violence protective order. Liberal and conservative justices appeared to side with the Biden administration’s position that the 1994 federal law is in […]
Hemp growers sue Alaska agriculture officials in attempt to keep hemp products legal
A coalition of hemp growers and manufacturers has sued the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, claiming that new limits on intoxicating hemp products are unconstitutional. The lawsuit, by the Alaska Industrial Hemp Association and four businesses, was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. Attorney Christopher Hoke, representing the plaintiffs, said the rules mean […]
Local leaders call for auto workers’ gains to spread to EV plants, Southern Black workers
Local Black elected leaders aligned with racial and economic justice groups want to build on the labor gains made through the United Auto Workers’ six-week strike. The union’s tentative deals with the big three automakers include major wins such as a 25% rise in pay and getting rid of the two-tier worker system. More than […]
Domestic Violence in Alaska: A crisis at home
T.’s relationship with her husband didn’t become violent until six months into her pregnancy with their first child. “Then it turned ugly. It was like a mask came off,” T. said. “He was free to say or do whatever he wanted because I was pregnant, and where was I going to go?” For safety reasons, […]
Doctor suing FDA recruited to scientific advisory board to ‘repurpose’ abortion pill
One of the anti-abortion doctors suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to rescind its 2000 approval of a medication abortion regimen on the basis that one of the drugs is dangerous is now consulting on the development of a breast cancer treatment that involves the same drug: mifepristone. It is the family doctor’s latest […]
Proposed class-action lawsuit claims Alaska prisons are holding people without criminal charges
A woman from Stebbins has sued the Alaska Department of Corrections, alleging that she and many other people in the state prison system have been unconstitutionally held in custody for more than 48 hours without being charged. Barbara Pete, represented by the Northern Justice Project, filed suit Oct. 6 in Nome. The suit was first […]
Latest Alaska crime report shows a 67% increase in murders and a slight overall decrease in crime
The murder rate in Alaska increased dramatically, though there was a slight overall decrease in crime statewide in 2022, according to an Alaska Department of Public Safety report released Monday. Notably, the number of rape cases reported to law enforcement in Alaska has decreased by nearly 6% compared with the previous year and is at […]
Alaska Native leaders call for legal overhaul to protect traditional fish harvests
The crash of salmon stocks in Western Alaska’s Kuskokwim River has sparked a bitter court fight between the federal and state governments, and now Alaska Native leaders are calling for congressional action to ensure that Indigenous Alaskans have priority for harvests when stocks are scarce. The conflict has gripped this year’s Alaska Federation of Natives […]
After illegal Alaska moose kill, 2 men will be banned globally from hunting for 4 years
A plea deal pending in Anchorage’s federal court would ban two men from hunting anywhere in the world for four years as punishment for illegally hunting a bull moose in Denali National Park and Preserve. According to documents published Tuesday, Christopher Brumwell and Andrew McDonald agreed to plead guilty to a single count each of […]