(SitNews) Anchorage, Alaska - Wednesday, the ACLU of Alaska filed suit against Governor Dunleavy and the State of Alaska to block his administration’s attempt to "punish the Alaska Court System by vetoing $334,700 in its 2020 budget because the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in a manner at odds with his political views". 

According to ACLU of Alaska, this veto is an impermissible exercise of executive authority that attacks Alaskans’ deep commitment to an independent judiciary, violates Alaska’s constitutional separation of powers, and illegally attempts to reallocate budget appropriations.

“Governor Dunleavy admitted outright that his veto was direct retaliation against the Alaska Court System for a court decision at odds with his political views. That isn’t just petty and vindictive; it is a clear assault on the constitutional power of the judiciary and a grossly inappropriate attempt to use money to coerce judges to a political end,” said ACLU of Alaska Executive Director Joshua A. Decker.

Decker continued, “Alaskans don’t want judges making decisions with an eye on how much money politicians will give them if they rule one way or another. That isn’t how we get justice.”

Today, Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson issued a statement regarding American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska lawsuit filed yesterday, July 17, 2019, in Anchorage Superior Court

Clarkson said, “Under the doctrine of separation of powers, the Executive is the separate and coequal branch of government that is expressly granted the line-item veto power under the Alaska Constitution. The governor’s express veto power includes all appropriation bills and there is no exception stated regarding appropriations to the Judiciary or court system.”

The ACLU is asking the court to find that Governor Dunleavy’s recent cut of $334,700 to the court system -- which represents the amount spent on state funded abortions last year -– is unconstitutional. The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld the use of state Medicaid funds to pay for abortions.

Attorney General Clarkson says, “Ironically, by way of its complaint the ACLU proposes to imbalance the separation of powers established by the Alaska Constitution. The ACLU asks the Judiciary to aggrandize its power over the Executive branch by having the Judiciary place itself in the position of controlling how the other two separate and coequal branches of government fund the courts.”  He notes this is a situation made more complicated by the fact that the ACLU is asking the courts to take and rule on a claim that affects their own funding."

On the Web:

ACLU Alaska Complaint Filed July 17, 2019 pdf

Source of News:

ACLU of Alaska
www.acluak.org

Alaska Department of Law
www.law.state.ak.us

 

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