Tag Archives: State: Alaska

American Civil Liberties Union: The American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Perkins Coie appeared in Alaska Superior Court yesterday seeking to allow transgender individuals to correct the sex marker on their driver’s licenses.

Alaska Dispatch: You may have been confused about this whole issue if you read an article published earlier this month in the Catholic Anchor, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Anchorage. That article — picked up and featured by the Alaska Dispatch — said “religious liberty groups … are already raising concerns about the impact that the proposed law would have on faith-based institutions and nonprofits in Anchorage.” The article goes on to mention only one religious liberty group, the Alliance Defense Fund, a national legal fund defending “religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage and the family,” according to its website. The fund analyzed the initiative, according to the article. In that analysis, the fund determined the initiative would “undermine religious liberty.”

Telegraph: We don’t call for censorship – at least I don’t. So, why in this day and age must every reference to faith in God be censored from the public square?” In a letter to the airline’s chief executive and president, she said: “The Alaska Airlines tradition should be looked upon as an all-American, hopeful, encouraging gesture. Please don’t discontinue the cards.”

Washington Blade – “America’s Leading Gay News Source”: The Anchorage Daily News reports that the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, which has intervened in pro-LGBT ballot measures across the country for many years, has begun weighing in on the measure. “The ultimate concern with enacting something like that is that it infringes on religious freedoms,” said ADF lawyer Holly Carmichael. “There’s a huge constitutional concern here.”

Anchorage Daily News: The main problem as the Alliance Defense Fund sees it is that private business owners could be forced to hire or do business with people whose sexual orientation doesn’t match their religious beliefs, said Holly Carmichael, a lawyer for the fund. “The ultimate concern with enacting something like that is that it infringes on religious freedoms,” Carmichael said. “There’s a huge constitutional concern here.” [more . . . ]

Sacramento Bee: Sponsors of an initiative to extend legal protections against discrimination to gay and transgender people in Anchorage on Thursday turned in a several-inch-high stack of petitions to the city clerk’s office to put the measure on the April city election ballot.

Forbes: A seemingly insignificant property tax case in Anchorage, Alaska may have a profound effect on one of the techniques used to combat marriage equality. Alaska has a marriage amendment in its Constitution which provides that a marriage can only be between a man and a woman. The Alaska Constitution also has strong equal protection guarantees. The tension between these concepts is played out in the case of Julie Schmidt et.al, v The State of Alaska and Municipality of Anchorage.

ABC News: Anchorage Superior Court Judge John Suddock on Friday rejected the state’s attempt to have certain issues tossed from a lawsuit to be heard Feb. 13.

News from The Associated Press: The governor is scheduled to announce this year’s amount Tuesday morning. Last year’s check was $1,281 per person.

Superior Court Judge Frank Pfiffner said in his decision that the state’s marital classification violates the Alaska Constitution’s equal protection clause. The ruling was signed Friday and released Monday by ACLU of Alaska.

Anchorage Daily News: A new campaign has begun in the decades-long battle over adding Anchorage’s gay and transgender residents to the city’s anti-discrimination law.

LifeSiteNews.com: Reports have emerged of an Alaska abortionist maintaining a family planning clinic on Catholic hospital grounds, days after pro-life leaders protested similar ties at a Colorado hospital.

Windy City Times: The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Alaska filed a brief today seeking to allow transgender individuals to correct the gender marker on their birth certificates without undergoing major surgery.

Anchorage Daily News: Christen, an Alaska Supreme Court justice, and Gleason, presiding judge for Anchorage Superior Court, are up for federal judgeships. They underwent their confirmation hearings Wednesday before the judiciary panel and have support from both of Alaska’s U.S. senators.

federal judge has blocked a state law meant to prevent the spread of child pornography, saying it violates the First Amendment and is too broad in its scope.

ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Alaska filed a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit challenging the state’s tax-assessment rules, which discriminate against same-sex couples by denying them equal access to a property tax exemption for senior citizens and disabled veterans.

Having spent decades watching ballots be counted in hundreds of elections, and never once have we seen a situation with such outrageous manipulation of the vote.

LifeNews: “Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is one of just a handful of pro-abortion Republicans in the Senate, but she has become the most outspoken of the group saying she will fight to ensure Planned Parenthood continues getting taxpayer funding.”

Miami Herald: The candidate, Don Haase of Valdez, also admitted under questioning by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that his official resume failed to disclose his leadership role in Eagle Forum Alaska, which advocates for social conservative issues.

AP on Yahoo: “Collective bargaining rights would be restricted for many Alaska public employees under a bill introduced Monday by a state lawmaker.”

The Hill: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Thursday called boosting Alaskan oil production her top priority and claimed that Middle Eastern turmoil and rising prices put drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) “back on the table.”

CNSNews: A new study says drilling on Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) could make Alaska the eighth largest oil resource province in the world — ahead of Nigeria, Libya, Russia and Norway.

LifeNews: “The overall number of abortions in Alaska dropped slightly in 2010, but the abortion rate among teens is rising, as is the number of abortions being paid with public funds, according to the annual report from the Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics.”

LifeNews: “Alaska could become the next state with a Choose Life license plate allowing state motorists to express their support for human life and the abortion alternative of adoption.”

AP on Google: “Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said he will not implement the federal health care overhaul after a judge in Florida struck down the law as unconstitutional.”

Change.org: “This week the Board of Regents will meet again, and once more they’ll look at whether the University of Alaska system should expand their nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation.”

Miami Herald: “Alaska attorney general John Burns has found unconstitutional a proposed ballot initiative that was essentially seeking to outlaw abortion in Alaska.”

Associated Press: “Nearly two months after the election, Sen. Lisa Murkowski is about to be certified the winner of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race.”

ABA Journal: “Rep. Scott Kawasaki is calling for both a law school and a medical school to be established at the University of Alaska, reports the Tundra Drums.”

“[The judge] said abortion practitioners should not face prison sentences for failing to comply with it. He also removed a section allowing parents to file a civil lawsuit against abortion practitioners who don’t comply seeking financial damages.”

Election Law Blog: “You can read the opinion here. In a unanimous, unsigned (per curiam) opinion, the Alaska Supreme Court said that nothing blocked the state of Alaska from certifying the U.S. Senate race for Lisa Murkowski.”

Reuters: “Parents of girls under the age of 18 seeking an abortion in Alaska must be notified, under a new law that took effect on Tuesday after a state judge rejected arguments against it.”

. . . ‘It’s an Alaska State Suggestion now, under the judge,’ he said.”

The Hill: “Republican Joe Miller is continuing his legal battle over the outcome of the Alaska Senate race.”

CNBC: “An Anchorage Superior Court judge is expected to rule by early next week on a lawsuit seeking to block the parental notification law approved by voters in August.”

For more information on the topic, see this ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www.alliancealert.org/tag/state-alaska+topic-parental-rights+topic-abortion/

The Hill: “A state judge in Alaska heard arguments Wednesday in Miller’s legal challenge to the legitimacy of thousands of write-in ballots counted for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).”

ACLU Blog of Rights: “On Friday, the ACLU joined with Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights in challenging a law that requires a teen to notify a parent or go to court before having an abortion. It is critical that laws like this don’t go unchallenged. I know from my own experience how bad these laws can be.”

The Hill: “Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) became the first senator in more than 50 years to win a write-in victory. The Associated Press called the race on Wednesday, almost two whole weeks after voters headed to the polls.”

Associated Press: “Sen. Lisa Murkowski is holding a lead in Alaska’s still-undecided Senate race as election workers prepare to count more write-in ballots.”

The Hill: “Almost 90 percent of the first round of write-in ballots counted in Alaska on Wednesday were unchallenged votes for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R). Repubican challenger Joe Miller’s campaign observers challenged 8.5 percent of the ballots, but were only successfully in setting aside 1.44 percent of the 19,203 write-in votes counted, according to the Anchorage Daily News.”

AP: “A federal court judge has denied a request by Alaska GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller to immediately stop the state Division of Elections from counting write-in ballots.”

Human Rights Campaign: “Senator Lisa Murkowski has the opportunity to prove once again that she represents all Alaskans. In 2009, she voted for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.  Now, she can again vote for that same bill which funds our military and will also repeal DADT.  That’s why I’m here on the ground in Alaska. . . ”

Associated Press: “Election workers in Alaska are scheduled to begin tallying more than 30,000 absentee and early-cast ballots in the state’s still-undecided Senate race.”

Associated Press: “And while a win would return her to Washington, to the colleagues and party leaders who turned their backs on her after her humiliating primary loss to the Sarah Palin-backed Miller, it also raises questions about how she would legislate.”

Anchorage Daily News: “Voters kept Alaska Supreme Court Justice Dana Fabe in office Tuesday, rejecting an effort by a group of social conservatives to unseat her.”

Anchorage Daily News: “Election returns on Tuesday showed Lisa Murkowski with a good chance to become only the second candidate to run a successful write-in campaign for the U.S. Senate in the nation’s history. But Joe Miller wasn’t giving up, and his campaign was getting ready for a possible court fight.”

LifeNews: “The most recent poll from the state of Alaska finds pro-life Senate candidate Joe Miller coming back against pro-abortion candidates Lisa Murkowski and Scott McAdams. Miller now holds a 37-30-30 percentage point lead in the controversial contest, according to a new survey from the PPP polling firm.”

Associated Press: “Democrats believe they can secure their first all-Democratic Senate delegation from Alaska in more than 40 years, with their once-overlooked nominee making a late charge and claiming the momentum is in his favor in a heated three-way contest.”

Politico: “Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller of Alaska said Tuesday he would vote for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. ‘That’s up to the people,’ Miller ultimately said of a constitutional amendment in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Tuesday night. ‘If you get a three-quarters vote ratifying — I’d vote for it. I would.’”

Anchorage Daily News: “In an unusual weekend hearing, retired Superior Court Judge Winston Burbank ruled that the public’s right to know about candidates outweighed Miller’s right to privacy.”

Alaska Dispatch: “An Anchorage attorney with close ties to Democrats tops a new Alaska bar poll rating list of candidates to replace federal judge John Sedwick.”

Courthouse News Service: “The 9th Circuit tossed a lawsuit challenging Alaska’s practice of appointing only attorneys as state judges through a merit-selection process in which attorneys play a significant role.” Kirk v. Carpeneti, No. 09-35860 (9th Cir. Sept. 30, 2010)

Politico: “South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint last week accused his Senate Republican colleagues of doing ‘everything’ in their power to help Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s write-in campaign against GOP nominee Joe Miller . . . A number of Republican senators told POLITICO Tuesday that DeMint was skewing the GOP Conference’s position solidly backing Miller, saying he was intensifying a rift within a party that’s trying to unite following a divisive primary season.”

The Hill: “Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) might use Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) playbook to force the White House to clarify its policy on oil-and-gas drilling off his state’s coast, telling reporters he hasn’t ruled out blocking an administration nominee over the issue.”

The Hill: “Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said he spoke loudly Wednesday during a closed door meeting of Senate Republicans in favor of booting Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) from her spot as the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans defied expectations and did not act Thursday to remove Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) from her top Republican role on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.”

The Hill: “Republican leaders are angry with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) for jeopardizing their chances of winning the Senate. Murkowski’s decision to mount a write-in campaign risks splitting the Republican vote between two candidates and could cost her party a safe GOP seat.”

“Just as Frank and Lisa Murkowski put their own interests ahead of the nation’s eight years ago with nepotism, Lisa will once again put political ambition ahead of love for country.”

Associated Press: “Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell says the state is suing to overturn the federal suspension of offshore drilling in Arctic Ocean waters.”

The Hill: “Alaska Senate nominee Joe Miller said Sen. Lisa Murkowski would be going back on her word if she were to launch a write-in or third-party bid this November.”

John Fund writing in the Wall Street Journal: “Republican operatives in Washington are openly fretting that Ms. Murkowski will be tempted to use what is likely a $1.5 million warchest in an attempt to keep her seat. They are counseling her allies that she has an excellent chance of returning to Washington in 2014 by challenging freshman Democratic Senator Mark Begich — but only if she honors the results of the primary . . . There is also the option of running a write-in campaign. Ms. Murkowski could delay a decision on that until five days before the Nov. 2 election.”

The Hill: “Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) said Thursday he is pressuring national Democrats to take on Tea Party-backed Joe Miller (R) and invest in the state’s Senate race. Begich, who will soon be the state’s senior senator, said he is working to drum up support and national party backing for Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams (D) who will face Miller in November.”

The Hill: “After Joe Miller’s surprise win over Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in the Republican Senate primary, observers started taking a second look at another Tea Party candidate: Christine O’Donnell. O’Donnell is challenging popular Rep. Mike Castle for Delaware’s Republican Senate nomination.”

Yahoo: “In arguably the biggest political upset of the year, Joe Miller claimed the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate when incumbent GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski conceded Tuesday evening. Murkowski gave up after failing to gain much ground in an count of outstanding absentee ballots . . . Miller’s win was a major victory for the tea party movement and marked the first time it had defeated a sitting senator in a primary.”

John Fund writes at the Wall Street Journal: “In their only debate last week, Mr. Miller pounded home his view that Senator Murkowski had voted for bills that lacked any Constitutional justification. She lamely responded that it would be a far different country if she only voted for things explicitly authorized by the Constitution.”

The AP carries this report: Senate upset erases Alaska seniority.

LifeNews: “Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of the few pro-abortion Republicans in the U.S. Senate, conceded defeat late Tuesday to pro-life primary election challenge Joe Miller.”

Associated Press: “U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Monday her Republican rival Joe Miller may be creating doubt in the minds of Alaskans about the integrity of the voting process by ratcheting up the hyperbole about possible election fraud.”

National Journal / Hotline on Call: “Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) will not be on the AK Libertarian Party ballot line this fall, according to the secretary of the party.”

Juneau Empire: “The biggest abortion provider in Alaska, Planned Parenthood, has created a website to help teens meet the requirements of the ballot measure approved in Tuesday’s election.”

LifeNews: “Just days after Alaska voters approved a new law allowing parents to be notified when their teenage daughter is considering an abortion, the Planned Parenthood abortion business is preparing to push teens into using provisions, meant for abused kids, to keep all parents in the dark.”

LifeNews: “The Republican Party is predominantly pro-life and one of just a handful of pro-abortion Republicans in the U.S. Senate may have lost her bid party’s nomination for her re-election campaign. Sen Lisa Murkowski is currently losing to pro-life candidate Joe Miller, after Tuesday night’s primary.”

Associated Press: “With 98 percent of election day precincts counted, Murkowski trailed Joe Miller by 1,960 votes out of more than 91,000 counted. The race was too close to call, with as many as 16,000 absentee votes and an undetermined number of provisional or questioned ballots, remaining to be counted starting on Aug. 31.”

97.9% of precincts reporting 55.49% YES, 44.51% NO.

Victoria Advocate: “A rural Alaska couple accused of domestic terrorism had 20 names on a hit list and had moved to the operational phase . . . Authorities say Paul Rockwood became a strict adherent to a violent Jihad-promoting ideology after converting to Islam.”