Alaska Supreme Court Decisions 2023
Date: December 29, 2023
Docket Number: S-18114
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Sitka Tribe of Alaska challenged the State of Alaska's management of a commercial fishery, arguing that it harmed a subsistence fishery. The tribe argued that the state violated the subsistence priority…
Date: December 22, 2023
Docket Number: S-17941
Justia Opinion Summary: In the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska, the case involved a self-represented prisoner who sued the Department of Corrections (DOC) for intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The prisoner alleged…
Date: December 22, 2023
Docket Number: S-18380
Justia Opinion Summary: In a case before the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska, the court was asked to determine the deadline for filing a claim against a decedent’s estate for reimbursement for Medicaid services provided to the decedent…
Date: December 15, 2023
Docket Number: S-18588
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska dealt with an appeal against the termination of parental rights of two parents, Elena F. and Ronan F., by the State of Alaska, Department of Family & Community…
Date: December 13, 2023
Docket Number: S-18394
Date: December 8, 2023
Docket Number: S-82
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska reversed the Superior Court's decision and held that the Department of Corrections' policy change regarding the definition of "firm release date" for prisoners was a…
Date: December 6, 2023
Docket Number: S-18646
Date: December 1, 2023
Docket Number: S-18044
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska, a group of trade associations (Resource Development Council for Alaska, Inc., Alaska Trucking Association, Inc., Alaska Miners Association, Inc., Associated…
Date: November 17, 2023
Docket Number: S-18208
Justia Opinion Summary: Owners of neighboring waterfront parcels of land disputed access to a shared cove. The shape and location of the cove’s shoreline changed over the years due to natural forces. The key to determining the neighbors'…
Date: November 17, 2023
Docket Number: S-18500
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Office of Children’s Services (OCS) took emergency custody of a child within days of her birth. OCS then filed an emergency child in need of aid (CINA) petition seeking an order confirming probable cause to…
Date: November 17, 2023
Docket Number: S-18511
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case from the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska, the court examined a claim brought by an inmate, Jeffrey Hout. Hout, who was convicted in 2010 of kidnapping and murder, accused Governor Michael Dunleavy of…
Date: November 15, 2023
Docket Number: S-18506
Date: November 15, 2023
Docket Number: S-18666
Date: November 9, 2023
Docket Number: S-18219
Justia Opinion Summary: In the State of Alaska, a man diagnosed with bipolar disorder stopped taking his medication, experienced a manic episode, and was hospitalized as a result. The hospital staff petitioned for him to be involuntarily…
Date: November 8, 2023
Docket Number: S-18392
Date: October 25, 2023
Docket Number: S-18440
Date: October 11, 2023
Docket Number: S-18355
Date: August 30, 2023
Docket Number: S-18405
Date: August 18, 2023
Docket Number: S-18325
Justia Opinion Summary: A man and woman and the man’s grandmother decided to buy a home that they would share. They also decided that because the woman qualified for a mortgage with better terms than the others, the mortgage would be in her…
Date: August 18, 2023
Docket Number: S-18341
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska was tasked with determining whether a judgment against a self-represented litigant, Jon Buchholdt, was void due to improper service of process. Jeremy Nelson,…
Date: August 16, 2023
Docket Number: S-18360
Date: August 11, 2023
Docket Number: S-18243
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the trial court dismissed a mining company’s claims when its sole filing in the prior year was a substitution of counsel. The Alaska Supreme Court held that the substitution of counsel was not a…
Date: August 9, 2023
Docket Number: S-18482
Date: August 9, 2023
Docket Number: S-18544
Date: August 2, 2023
Docket Number: S-18080
Date: August 2, 2023
Docket Number: S-18412
Date: August 2, 2023
Docket Number: S-18416
Date: July 14, 2023
Docket Number: S-18272
Justia Opinion Summary: Wife Connie Stockton challenged a superior court’s order denying relief from judgment under Alaska Civil Rule 60(b). She sought to overturn a default judgment entered against her in 2013, that divided marital property…
Date: July 7, 2023
Docket Number: S-18242
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, Veronica Louise Hudson and Daniel Lee Hudson, a married couple in Alaska, divorced. The major points of contention revolved around the division of marital property and the classification of a severance and…
Date: July 5, 2023
Citations: 350 P.3d 766, 407 P.3d 485, 420 P.3d 1234, 483 P.3d 179
Docket Numbers: A-1, a-1
Date: June 30, 2023
Docket Number: S-17891
Justia Opinion Summary: A young woman died of heart failure while hospitalized. Her mother, acting on her own behalf and as personal representative of the woman’s estate, sued the hospital, several doctors, and the doctors’ employers for…
Date: June 30, 2023
Docket Number: S-18337
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, two individuals, Tong Vang and Pa Kou Xiong, were in a relationship recognized by Hmong cultural customs but were not legally married. They had two children together. Upon their separation, Xiong sought…
Date: June 30, 2023
Docket Number: S-18378
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska, the primary issue was whether two documents, both named as the will of Janice Evensen, met the statutory requirements to be valid holographic wills.…
Date: June 21, 2023
Docket Number: S-18349
Date: June 16, 2023
Docket Number: S-17787
Justia Opinion Summary: In Fairbanks, Alaska, a man, Timothy Teslow, cut down a grove of birch trees on a property that was up for sale by its owner, Wallace Cox. The property was subsequently bought by David and Rhetta Bragg. The Braggs sued…
Date: June 14, 2023
Docket Number: S-18356
Date: June 2, 2023
Docket Number: S-18377
Justia Opinion Summary: removed an Alaska Native child from his mother and placed him with a relative, the child experienced suicidal ideation and checked himself into a psychiatric facility. Following a period of seemingly voluntary care, OCS…
Date: May 26, 2023
Docket Number: S-17772
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska upheld a lower court's decision that Williams Alaska Petroleum, Inc. and The Williams Companies, Inc. (collectively, "Williams") were strictly liable for the release…
Date: May 26, 2023
Docket Number: S-18172
Justia Opinion Summary: Alaska, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement with the Alaska State Employees Association (ASEA), a public sector union representing thousands of State employees, including union members and nonmembers, deducted…
Date: May 26, 2023
Docket Number: S-18292
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska, the Attorney General for the State of Alaska, Treg R. Taylor, sued the Alaska Legislative Affairs Agency. The dispute arose from a disagreement between the…
Date: May 19, 2023
Docket Number: S-18209
Justia Opinion Summary: In a dispute between the State of Alaska, Department of Health & Social Services and Jennifer D. White and John P. Shannon, D.C., the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska had to consider whether an adjudicative agency…
Date: May 17, 2023
Docket Number: S-18264
Date: May 16, 2023
Docket Number: S-18509
Justia Opinion Summary: In a case involving the State of Alaska's Office of Children’s Services (OCS), an adult relative, Taryn M., appealed the denial of her request to have custody of an Indian child, Marcy P., who was in the custody of OCS.…
Date: May 12, 2023
Docket Number: S-17995
Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska, the petitioner, Eric McDonald, an employee of a subcontractor, suffered injuries during the renovation of a high school. He sued Architects Alaska, Inc. and…
Date: May 12, 2023
Docket Number: S-18326
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, a man identified as Sergio F. was taken into emergency custody after his religious delusions led him to walk naked along a road during the winter. Following this incident, the Superior Court of the State of…
Date: May 12, 2023
Docket Number: S-18479
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving the State of Alaska, Department of Health & Social Services, Office of Children’s Services (OCS), the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska ruled on an appeal regarding the termination of parental…
Date: May 5, 2023
Docket Number: S-18100
Justia Opinion Summary: A tractor-trailer truck rear-ended a stopped car at a construction site, injuring the driver of the car. The injured driver was a successful surgeon, who suffered permanent injuries that limited her ability to practice…
Date: April 28, 2023
Docket Number: S-18457
Justia Opinion Summary: Alaska’s United States Representative Don Young died unexpectedly in March 2022. Following his death, Alaska held a special primary election and a special general election to select a candidate to complete the remainder…
Date: April 28, 2023
Docket Number: S-17389
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Alaska ruled that the extended pre-evaluation detentions of two individuals, Abigail B. and Jethro S., violated their substantive due process rights. Both individuals were detained at…
Date: April 28, 2023
Docket Number: S-18244
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Alaska was asked to determine whether the question of a deceased worker's status as an employee or independent contractor under the Alaska Worker's Compensation Act should be determined…
Date: April 21, 2023
Docket Number: S-18082
Justia Opinion Summary: After a mining company abandoned its mining claims, the claims were located and recorded by a second mining company, which also abandoned the claims. After the second company abandoned the claims, the first company…
Date: April 21, 2023
Docket Number: S-18328
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Alaska reviewed challenges to a redistricting plan adopted by the Alaska Redistricting Board. After the 2020 census, the Board adopted a plan for 40 House of Representative districts and…
Date: April 7, 2023
Docket Number: S-18170
Justia Opinion Summary: Alaska Venture Capital Group, LLC (AVCG) owned interests in oil and gas leases on state lands. AVCG sought the State’s approval to create overriding royalty interests on the leases. The Alaska Department of Natural…
Date: March 24, 2023
Docket Number: S-18191
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case in the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska, a candidate who narrowly lost an election brought a case alleging that the Division of Elections had improperly allowed some voters to cast ballots without…
Date: March 22, 2023
Docket Number: S-18306
Date: February 24, 2023
Docket Number: S-18190
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother Miranda T. appealed the superior court’s entry of a disposition order in child in need of aid (CINA) proceedings. She contended the court erred by moving forward with an adjudication hearing without having…
Date: February 22, 2023
Docket Number: S-17757
Date: February 22, 2023
Docket Number: S-17976
Date: February 22, 2023
Docket Number: S-18095
Date: February 22, 2023
Docket Number: S-18429
Date: February 17, 2023
Docket Number: S-18077
Justia Opinion Summary: A woman who suffered from schizophrenia appealed court orders authorizing her involuntary commitment and administration of psychotropic medication. She argued the superior court erred by relying on a cursory report from…
Date: February 10, 2023
Docket Number: S-17788
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the superior court granted visitation to grandparents after finding that the children enjoyed a positive relationship “typical of a grandparent-child relationship” and that the parents’ motive for cutting…
Date: February 10, 2023
Docket Number: S-18296
Justia Opinion Summary: Blythe and Danny were the parents of three-year-old Gene. Blythe had two other children, Gene’s half siblings, with a man named Timothy. Timothy has custody of those other children; they lived with him and his parents,…
Date: February 8, 2023
Docket Numbers: 7903, S-7, s-7
Date: February 1, 2023
Docket Number: S-18286
Date: February 1, 2023
Docket Number: S-18449
Date: January 13, 2023
Docket Number: S-17591
Justia Opinion Summary: A landlord tried to evict a tenant for nonpayment of rent. The tenant counterclaimed under Alaska’s Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act (URLTA), seeking damages for a variety of alleged harms: retaliatory eviction;…
Date: January 6, 2023
Docket Number: S-18220
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Office of Children’s Services (OCS) took custody of a newborn child due to concerns about the parents’ drug use and the father’s history of sexual abuse. The mother later voluntarily relinquished her parental…
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