Courts
RSSAlaska court system, rulings, filings, federal cases affecting Alaska, Alaska Court of Appeals, Alaska Supreme Court decisions, judicial retention
Alaska Supreme Court throws out Willow easement map, sends 14-year fight back to Palmer
Alaska Supreme Court threw out a Palmer judge's easement map in a 14-year property fight, ordering a new one that properly accounts for where the Bloom house extinguished the trail.
by Maggie AlaskaNews10h ago2 min readAI
Alaska Supreme Court rules Tanana Chiefs Conference immune from member village's lawsuit
Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that Tanana Chiefs Conference holds tribal sovereign immunity and cannot be sued in state court by member village Dot Lake over bylaws disputes.
by Maggie AlaskaNews10h ago2 min readAI
A murder conviction is reversed because a suspect's question about a lawyer wasn't enough for police to stop
Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that police must stop and ask for clarification when a suspect hints at wanting a lawyer, a stronger protection than federal law requires.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readAI
When a custody case is filed in both tribal and state court, whoever filed first wins, Alaska Supreme Court rules
Filed in both tribal and state court, a custody case goes to whoever filed first, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled — here decided by an eleven-day gap.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
Alaska Supreme Court shields Nome hospital's staff housing from tax
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Nome can't tax a Norton Sound Health building housing doctors and nurses, calling the staff housing vital to the hospital.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
Alaska AG voids contested Area M salmon regulations after ethics challenge
Alaska attorney general voided five salmon regulations after board members failed to disclose conflicts of interest. • Fishing groups won relief through ethics enforcement instead of court. • Regulations would have restricted fishing time and added chinook catch closures. • Board must restart the process to readopt any rules.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readAI
Alaska Supreme Court says legislative immunity shields ethics committee from Reinbold suit
Alaska Supreme Court ruled legislative immunity shields the ethics committee from lawsuits over disciplining legislators, ending former Sen. Lora Reinbold's four-year fight for a public hearing.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readAI
Supreme Court to hear Alaska bush pilot's fight over $95,000 plane seized for a six-pack
Supreme Court will hear whether Alaska can seize a bush pilot's $95,000 plane because a passenger carried beer to a dry village.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Alaska courts require TrueFiling for CINA cases starting August 17
Alaska courts require all lawyers to file Child in Need of Aid cases through TrueFiling starting August 17, replacing email and fax. Training dates have not been announced.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min readAI
He overturned his termination but still lost his daughter
An Alaska dad proved the state wrongly terminated his rights — but still lost his daughter for good, because he missed a one-year deadline to challenge her adoption.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
A judge says Alaska can't keep the second Dan Sullivan off the Senate ballot
A judge put the second Dan Sullivan on the GOP Senate primary ballot, beside the senator he's named like. The state had no "good-faith" rule to keep him off.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Court upholds detention for teen who killed another boy, even at low risk
An Alaska court says a judge can detain a teen for a serious crime even when a psychologist calls him low risk. The case: a boy who killed another teen.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
Daniel J. Sullivan sued the state today over a denied Senate ballot spot
Denied a Senate ballot spot, Daniel J. Sullivan sued today. Lawmakers held a hearing on the same question the same afternoon.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska Supreme Court affirms termination of Native mother's parental rights over domestic violence
Alaska Supreme Court upheld termination of an Alaska Native mother's parental rights, ruling that four years of case-plan work did not address the domestic violence that endangered her disabled son.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4w ago3 min readAI
Pebble Mine's challenge to EPA reaches an Anchorage court Thursday.
Pebble vs. EPA hits Anchorage federal court Thursday. The salmon, the State of Alaska, and a major mineral deposit all want a say.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readAI
Alaska's high court reversed a decision to end a Native mother's parental rights — over how the state made its case
The Alaska Supreme Court reversed a Native mother's parental-rights termination, finding the state's ICWA cultural testimony too vague to meet the law's high bar.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
24 bottles of R&R, grounded short of Shungnak
Bargain whiskey, $400 a bottle: Fairbanks airport police seized 24 bottles of R&R bound for a dry village, street value $9,600.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min readAI
A Fairbanks blood-draw arrest raises a question about the evidence-tampering charge
A Fairbanks driver fought a court-ordered blood draw and was charged with evidence tampering — but a 2000 Alaska Supreme Court ruling raises a real question about whether that charge holds.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5d ago1 min readAI
Sitka wades into an unsettled frontier of environmental law
Sitka may sue over PFAS, 1,4-dioxane and microplastics in its water — and the microplastics part is a legal frontier no other Alaska town appears to have tested.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
A soldier died guarding Fort Wainwright's gate. The drunk driver who hit him will serve 17 years.
A North Pole woman will serve 17 years for a drunk-driving crash that killed a soldier guarding Fort Wainwright's gate. Her blood alcohol was nearly four times the limit.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
House Republicans examine $24.8M in federal attorney fees to environmental groups
House Republicans examined $24.8M in federal attorney fee awards to environmental nonprofits from 2019 to 2024. • Critics say uncapped fee-shifting laws let nonprofits bill at rates far above market rates, sometimes 700 percent markups. • Alaska mining, oil, and timber projects have faced years of litigation delays funded partly by taxpayer attorney fee awards.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min readAI
Alaska Charges 15 in $1.8 Million Medicaid Fraud Sweep
Alaska has charged 15 people in five Medicaid fraud cases totaling $1.8 million — though every count is, for now, an allegation no court has tested.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson visits UAF on July 14 to take questions
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — the Court's first Black woman and first former public defender — visits UAF on July 14 to take Alaskans' questions.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
A judge weighs whether Alaska gets two Dan Sullivans
Will the real Dan Sullivan please stand up? We're gonna have a problem here. Y'all act like you never seen two Sullivans before. J's all on the floor, like the "S" walked in and slammed the door.
by Cale Green1mo ago3 min read
Alaska Supreme Court rules Sleep Clinic owes back taxes, not a small business
Alaska Supreme Court ruled the Sleep Clinic owes back taxes for 2016 through 2018 because it performs health services, not a qualifying small business.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min readAI
Alaska Supreme Court upholds ICWA termination, clarifies standards
Alaska Supreme Court upheld termination of parental rights for two Native children, clarifying courts must meet criminal-level proof and show active efforts to preserve families under federal Indian Child Welfare Act rules.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska Supreme Court: divorce splits must account for who pays the taxes
The Alaska Supreme Court upheld most of a divorce judgment but sent back one question: who pays the capital gains taxes — because that changes the real split.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min readAI
Supreme Court tax-sale ruling puts spotlight on Alaska foreclosure proceeds
The Supreme Court narrowed tax-sale payouts Tuesday. Anchorage's tax-foreclosure auction is Wednesday. No, that's not a lot of time.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Palmer Courthouse finally gets funding for long-needed expansion
Palmer courthouse is getting a $4.95 million expansion with three new courtrooms after five years of the heaviest caseloads in Alaska, with construction to start by August 2026.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min readAI
Senate passes immigration enforcement bill 52-47, splitting Alaska delegation
Three years of ICE funding, a fight over the 'weaponization' fund, and Alaska's senators split
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
AG Nominee Cox Defends 110+ Amicus Briefs, Faces Questions on Alaska Priorities
Attorney General-designee Stephen Cox defended signing Alaska onto approximately 110 amicus briefs in eight months during his Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing, while senators questioned whether these national cases distract from Alaska-specific priorities like domestic violence prosecution.
by Alaska News3mo ago4 min readAI
Alaska Launches New Online Form for Vulnerable Adult Abuse Reports
Alaska's Division of Senior and Disabilities Services launched a new federally compliant online form consolidating all reports of harm to vulnerable adults and critical incidents into one system.
by Alaska Newsadded 3mo ago2 min readAIAs federal wetland protections recede, Anchorage rewrites its own rules
After the Supreme Court pulled federal protection off more than half the nation's wetlands, their fate now falls to states and cities — and no state has more wetlands than Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Retiring judge's Arctic caseload lands in an unassigned court queue
A retiring Arctic judge's entire caseload but eight cases now sits in an unassigned queue, with no new judge named and no word on hearing dates across three hub communities.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min readAI
A man is taking on Alaska's housing authority alone, and lost round one
A self-represented man sued Alaska's public housing authority under the Fair Housing Act. A judge denied his emergency-relief bid but fast-tracked the case, which continues.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Alaska Supreme Court: parent who stays active guardian keeps custody when disabled adult child lives in assisted care
Alaska Supreme Court ruled a parent who actively serves as guardian keeps custody of a disabled adult child in assisted care, even if the child lives elsewhere.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago1 min readAI
The state must bridge the language gap before ending parental rights, court says
Alaska's high court says the state must accommodate non-English-speaking parents before terminating their rights — a new protection rooted in the state's 20-plus Native languages.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska Supreme Court clarifies active-efforts standard in Jace B. ICWA case
Alaska Supreme Court ruled in Jace B. case that state caseworkers must meet a higher active-efforts standard under federal Indian Child Welfare Act when confirming a newborn's tribal status before any move to terminate parental rights.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Federal judge blocks removal of petitioner from Alaska in Alebw case
Federal judge to ICE: you can keep him detained, but he stays in Alaska — and yes, we noticed you tried to put him on a plane.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min readAI
Former Anchorage attorney pleads guilty to federal drug-trafficking charge
Former Anchorage attorney Timothy Benintendi pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking, using his legal position to distribute oxycodone and buprenorphine between 2021 and 2023.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI