Justice
Civil rights committee finds Native voting rights impeded in South Dakota
Native Americans living on tribal land face many barriers to their voting rights, according to a new report finalized Monday by a civil rights committee. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency established in 1957. The commission’s mission is to investigate and report on issues related to civil rights, and to […]
Sitka Fine Arts Camp files rare immigration lawsuit in support of theater manager
One of Alaska’s premier arts organizations is suing the federal government after immigration officials blocked the hiring of a non-American theater manager. The 50-year-old Sitka Fine Arts Camp filed suit against federal immigration officials on Friday in Alaska District Court, seeking an H-1B visa exemption for Denush Vidanapathirana, a technical theater manager in a year-round […]
Alaska and 9 other states threaten to sue EPA over wood-burning stove standards
Alaska and nine other states have notified the Environmental Protection Agency they intend to sue if new standards for certification of wood-burning stoves are not issued soon. The EPA last issued standards for wood-burning stoves in 2015, and new standards are due at least every eight years, said the notice of intent to sue, which […]
States, cities turn to community organizations to battle wage theft
About five years ago, most of Minneapolis’ Subway, Little Caesars and McDonald’s franchise restaurants did not comply with city wage standards. Now workers at each of the locations that violated the law receive the required minimum wage and time off when they’re sick. This is all thanks to a co-enforcement program, where the city’s labor […]
Alaska Supreme Court considers whether Hilcorp’s financial information should stay secret
Three years after Hilcorp Energy Co. took over as operator of the Prudhoe Bay oil field and the near-half owner of the trans-Alaska pipeline, the Alaska Supreme Court is considering whether the public should have access to that privately held company’s financial information. The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case pressed by […]
Supreme Court denies Navajo Nation water rights claim
The Navajo Nation continues its fight for water after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the United States has no treaty obligation to identify and account for the Navajo Nation’s water rights in the Colorado River. The Supreme Court indicated that the 1868 treaty between the Navajo Nation and the federal government contained no […]
A year after Dobbs: Congress takes a back seat on federal abortion policy
Editors’ Note: This report is part of a special States Newsroom series on abortion access one year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion. One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, the courts rather than a divided Congress are leading the way on […]
As Alaska tourism rebounds, state and federal officials crack down on fake Alaska Native art
A Ketchikan man agreed to plead guilty this month to federal charges in conjunction with a long-running scheme to sell fake Alaska Native souvenirs manufactured in the Philippines. Travis Lee Macaset’s plea deal follows several other guilty pleas this summer that stem from a scheme to sell mislabeled products from two businesses in Ketchikan. “It […]
In growing Southwest Alaska conflict, state sides with mine developers
The state of Alaska intends to intervene in a lawsuit that could block development of a gold mine in Southwest Alaska. The state aims to support the federal government and mine developers Donlin Gold, LLC. and Calista Corp. against a group of Alaska Native tribes that say the mine project was improperly permitted and could […]
Opioid settlement payouts to localities made public for first time
Thousands of local governments nationwide are receiving settlement money from companies that made, sold, or distributed opioid painkillers, like Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, and Walmart. The companies are shelling out more than $50 billion total in settlements from national lawsuits. But finding out the precise amount each city or county is receiving has been nearly […]
Alaska’s Native and political leaders praise Supreme Court decision on Indian Child Welfare Act
On Thursday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act in a 7-2 decision. The ruling preserves a 35-year-old law intended to address the harm caused by the federal government’s boarding school program by prioritizing the placement of Alaska Native and American Indian children into tribal homes. Alaska Native […]
U.S. Supreme Court upholds Indian Child Welfare Act in 7-2 decision
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to a federal law aimed at keeping Native American children within the foster care system in Native American homes. The Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision upheld the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, which established federal minimum standards for the removal of Native American children from […]