Alaska Supreme Court Decisions 2021
Date: December 30, 2021
Docket Number: S-17705
Justia Opinion Summary: Gavora, Inc., a real estate company, acquired an existing long-term lease with a purchase option for a municipality-owned property. Dry-cleaning businesses operating on the property contaminated the groundwater both…
Date: December 30, 2021
Citations: 315 P.3d 674, 404 P.3d 166, 428 P.3d 477, 467 P.3d 231
Docket Number: s-3
Justia Opinion Summary: A man with severe mental illness stabbed his parents during a psychotic episode and was subsequently committed to a psychiatric hospital. He appealed that commitment order. Before the commitment hearing, he stopped…
Date: December 29, 2021
Docket Number: S-18022
Date: December 23, 2021
Docket Numbers: S-18054, S-18068, S-18071, S-18072
Justia Opinion Summary: This matter arose from four Child in Need of Aid (CINA) cases. In each, the superior court appointed a guardian ad litem for the child through the Office of Public Advocacy (OPA), and in each case Brenda Finley, working…
Date: December 22, 2021
Docket Number: S-17860
Date: December 15, 2021
Docket Number: S-17987
Date: December 10, 2021
Citations: 318 P.3d 390, 342 P.3d 1233, 343 P.3d 425, 347 P.3d 91, 353 P.3d 782
Docket Number: a-7
Justia Opinion Summary: The superior court terminated a mother’s parental rights to her daughter after a termination trial. The mother appealed, and the Alaska Supreme Court concluded that on the facts of this case, the mother preserved her…
Date: December 10, 2021
Docket Number: S-17269
Justia Opinion Summary: A minor in the custody of the Alaska Office of Children’s Services (OCS) was brought to a hospital for mental health treatment. A hospital social worker then petitioned the superior court to have the minor involuntarily…
Date: December 8, 2021
Citations: 300 P.3d 528, 303 P.3d 493
Docket Number: A-0
Date: December 8, 2021
Docket Number: S-17584
Date: December 1, 2021
Docket Numbers: S-502, S-715, S-92, s-92
Date: November 24, 2021
Docket Number: S-17989
Date: November 19, 2021
Docket Number: S-17739
Justia Opinion Summary: After a woman died and left a will disposing of several parcels of real property and two trailers, her ex-husband — with whom she had maintained a romantic relationship following divorce — filed claims against the…
Date: November 19, 2021
Docket Number: S-17838
Justia Opinion Summary: A group of defrauded investors brought a lawsuit in Washington State seeking to recover assets they alleged had been fraudulently conveyed to perpetrators of the fraud. The investors discovered that the alleged…
Date: November 19, 2021
Docket Number: S-17863
Justia Opinion Summary: The superior court determined that an unmarried couple lived for a time as domestic partners and, in connection with the dissolution of the domestic partnership, that a residential property one party purchased was…
Date: November 19, 2021
Docket Number: S-17916
Justia Opinion Summary: The grandmother of an Indian child was appointed as the child’s guardian. The Office of Children’s Services (OCS) took emergency custody of the child after the grandmother admitted using methamphetamine and the child…
Date: November 17, 2021
Docket Number: S-17536
Date: November 17, 2021
Docket Number: S-18002
Date: November 12, 2021
Docket Number: S-17678
Justia Opinion Summary: Stephan “Craig” Mitchell suffered a work-related back injury in 1995. Since that time he had continuing back pain and received numerous medical interventions to try to treat the pain, including several surgeries. This…
Date: November 12, 2021
Docket Number: S-18003
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned the effect of the Alaska Legislature’s failure to exercise its confirmation power during the disruptions in regular government activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislature relied on a…
Date: November 12, 2021
Docket Number: S-73
Justia Opinion Summary: After a narrow loss in the general election for Alaska House District 27, Lance Pruitt contested the result. The superior court dismissed Pruitt’s multi-count complaint for failure to state a valid claim. But in order to…
Date: November 10, 2021
Docket Number: S-17992
Date: November 5, 2021
Docket Number: S-17766
Justia Opinion Summary: An apprentice electrician, who was unmarried and had no dependents, was working for a construction project subcontractor when she died in an accident. Her direct employer paid funeral benefits required by the Alaska…
Date: November 3, 2021
Docket Number: S-17708
Date: November 3, 2021
Docket Number: S-17980
Date: October 29, 2021
Docket Number: S-17614
Justia Opinion Summary: A family trust owned property reachable by an access road that follows an easement across others’ properties. A neighboring couple objected to the trust’s use of the easement, contending the easement grant was invalid…
Date: October 29, 2021
Docket Number: S-17928
Justia Opinion Summary: A vendor entered into an agreement for a merchandise booth inside a fairground building. After an unknown thief broke into the building and stole a significant amount of the vendor’s merchandise, the vendor sued the fair…
Date: October 29, 2021
Docket Number: S-17953
Justia Opinion Summary: In Alaska, a child was presumed to be at substantial risk of sexual abuse (and therefore in need of aid) if the parent knowingly leaves the child with a person convicted of or under investigation for a sex offense…
Date: October 8, 2021
Docket Number: S-17159
Justia Opinion Summary: Property owners sued the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, challenging the validity of easements that cross their property to give access to neighboring residences. The superior court dismissed most of the property owners’…
Date: October 8, 2021
Citation: 496 P.3d 403
Docket Number: S-17550
Justia Opinion Summary: A junior lienholder who took no steps to protect his interest at a nonjudicial foreclosure sale appealed the superior court’s subsequent summary judgment decision dismissing his claim that the sale process was defective…
Date: October 8, 2021
Citation: 496 P.3d 412
Docket Number: S-17794
Justia Opinion Summary: The personal representative of an estate brought a medical malpractice claim against a company that provided the decedent emergency room medical care shortly before his death. The superior court granted summary judgment…
Date: October 8, 2021
Docket Number: S-17960
Justia Opinion Summary: Two women lived together as unmarried domestic partners. One woman had a child using artificial insemination; the other helped raise the child but did not adopt the child. When the women separated, the biological mother…
Date: October 6, 2021
Docket Number: S-17815
Date: September 17, 2021
Citation: 495 P.3d 313
Docket Number: S-17902
Justia Opinion Summary: About two months before the 2020 general election, a village government, a nonpartisan political organization, and two individual Alaska voters sought to enjoin the State from enforcing a statute that required absentee…
Date: September 15, 2021
Docket Number: S-17635
Date: September 15, 2021
Docket Number: S-17665
Date: September 15, 2021
Docket Number: S-17703
Date: September 15, 2021
Docket Number: S-17936
Date: September 15, 2021
Docket Number: S-17954
Date: September 8, 2021
Docket Number: S-17527
Date: September 3, 2021
Citation: 494 P.3d 556
Docket Number: S-17530
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Workers’ Compensation Act applied a two-year limitations period to claims for “compensation for disability.” In 1988, the legislature reconfigured one type of compensation — for permanent partial disability —…
Date: September 3, 2021
Citation: 494 P.3d 53
Docket Number: S-17649
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2012, the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) issued an advisory opinion stating that the contribution limits in Alaska’s campaign finance law were unconstitutional as applied to contributions to independent…
Date: September 3, 2021
Citation: 494 P.3d 522
Docket Number: S-17740
Justia Opinion Summary: Before getting married, Andy drafted a prenuptial agreement. Abbie first saw the agreement the night before their wedding, when she was intoxicated. The agreement, designed to protect Andy’s substantial assets,…
Date: September 3, 2021
Docket Number: S-17822
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission denied an individual’s request for a hearing regarding a reported natural gas leak and whether the leak constituted “waste” under Alaska law. The agency concluded it had no…
Date: September 3, 2021
Citation: 494 P.3d 541
Docket Number: S-17834
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Alaska Supreme Court's review centered on a challenge to the lieutenant governor’s decision that the sponsors of an initiative, “An Act changing the oil and gas production tax for…
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Number: S-17750
Date: August 25, 2021
Docket Number: S-17942
Date: August 20, 2021
Citation: 494 P.3d 505
Docket Number: S-17589
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant Beverly Sumpter worked as a school aide. She reported an injury to her cervical spine after she repositioned a disabled student in his wheelchair. Sumpter had significant preexisting cervical spine problems.…
Date: August 20, 2021
Citation: 493 P.3d 868
Docket Number: S-17734
Justia Opinion Summary: A minor was severely injured in an all-terrain vehicle collision in which the other driver was at fault. The minor had medical benefits coverage through a health care plan provided by her father’s employer, the Fairbanks…
Date: August 18, 2021
Docket Number: S-17952
Date: August 6, 2021
Citation: 492 P.3d 1014
Docket Number: S-17710
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury entered a verdict for the defense in a medical malpractice suit, finding medical negligence but also finding that the negligence did not cause harm. During later conversations with jurors, plaintiffs’…
Date: August 4, 2021
Docket Number: S-17583
Date: July 30, 2021
Docket Number: S-17159
Justia Opinion Summary: Property owners sued the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, challenging the validity of easements that crossed their property to give access to neighboring residences. The superior court dismissed most of the property owners’…
Date: July 30, 2021
Citation: 491 P.3d 1088
Docket Number: S-17580
Justia Opinion Summary: The estate of a severely disabled woman sued her in-home care providers for negligence in causing her death. The superior court granted summary judgment in favor of the providers, ruling that the estate was required to…
Date: July 23, 2021
Citation: 491 P.3d 374
Docket Numbers: S-17307, S-17610
Justia Opinion Summary: The primary issue in consolidated appeals was the scope of an automobile insurance policy’s arbitration provision. Two insureds with identical Allstate Insurance Company medical payments and uninsured/underinsured…
Date: July 23, 2021
Citation: 496 P.3d 381
Docket Number: S-17549
Justia Opinion Summary: A member of the Metlakatla Indian Community was convicted of several commercial fishing violations in State waters and fined $20,000. He appealed his conviction and sentence to the court of appeals, which asked the…
Date: July 23, 2021
Citation: 491 P.3d 1081
Docket Number: S-17775
Justia Opinion Summary: After initially disputing that a corrections officer was permanently and totally disabled from injuries suffered at work, the State conceded his disability status. The parties did not enter into a written settlement or…
Date: July 21, 2021
Docket Number: S-17579
Date: July 21, 2021
Docket Number: S-17851
Date: July 16, 2021
Citation: 491 P.3d 343
Docket Number: S-17706
Justia Opinion Summary: A recall committee submitted an application to the Alaska Division of Elections seeking to recall the governor, citing lack of fitness, incompetence, and neglect of duties as grounds. The director refused to certify the…
Date: July 14, 2021
Citation: 490 P.3d 357
Docket Number: S-17890
Justia Opinion Summary: The superior court terminated a father’s parental rights to his two children after finding them children in need of aid because of their father’s domestic violence and aggressive behavior. The children were Indian…
Date: July 9, 2021
Citation: 491 P.3d 325
Docket Number: S-17887
Justia Opinion Summary: Alyse Galvin was an Alaska Democratic Party nominee for office, but registered as a nonpartisan voter. She sued to stop the state Division of Elections from sending out already-printed ballots for the 2020 general…
Date: July 7, 2021
Docket Number: S-17675
Date: June 23, 2021
Docket Number: S-17830
Date: June 18, 2021
Citation: 488 P.3d 979
Docket Number: S-17548
Justia Opinion Summary: The superior court dismissed a subcontractor’s claims against the contractor because a venue provision in the subcontract required that litigation be conducted in another state. The superior court also dismissed the…
Date: June 18, 2021
Citation: 488 P.3d 970
Docket Number: S-17570
Justia Opinion Summary: A man’s condominium unit had the only access to a crawl space containing water pipes that served several other units. The condominium association’s president and a maintenance man entered the unit twice, with the owner’s…
Date: June 18, 2021
Citation: 488 P.3d 959
Docket Number: S-17735
Justia Opinion Summary: A mining company appealed the borough assessor’s valuation of its mine to the borough board of equalization. At a hearing the company presented a detailed report arguing the borough had improperly included the value of…
Date: June 11, 2021
Docket Number: S-17309
Date: June 11, 2021
Citation: 488 P.3d 951
Docket Number: S-17674
Justia Opinion Summary: An oil producer challenged an Alaska Department of Revenue advisory bulletin interpreting the oil tax code, arguing that the bulletin violated the Alaska Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and seeking a declaratory…
Date: May 28, 2021
Citation: 487 P.3d 568
Docket Number: S-16752
Justia Opinion Summary: A minor convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) argued that the statute that excluded misdemeanor traffic violations from juvenile court jurisdiction violated her right to equal protection under the Alaska…
Date: May 28, 2021
Citation: 487 P.3d 1075
Docket Number: S-17620
Justia Opinion Summary: The State of Alaska prevailed in a quiet title action brought against it by two landowners and was awarded approximately $205,000 in attorney’s fees pursuant to the Alaska Civil Rule 82(b)(2) schedule. In an earlier…
Date: May 26, 2021
Docket Number: S-17621
Date: May 21, 2021
Citation: 487 P.3d 235
Docket Number: S-17568
Justia Opinion Summary: A homeowner sought to rescind a foreclosure sale, arguing the notices he received before the sale were deficient because they lacked information required under state and federal law. The notices were sent by a law firm…
Date: May 19, 2021
Docket Number: S-17293
Date: May 14, 2021
Citation: 486 P.3d 1123
Docket Number: S-17438
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2019, an attorney representing Vern H. in an unrelated matter petitioned the superior court for an order authorizing Vern’s hospitalization for a mental health evaluation. The attorney indicated that Vern said he…
Date: May 14, 2021
Citation: 486 P.3d 1116
Docket Number: S-17683
Justia Opinion Summary: A cannery worker reported two injuries: one to his back and one to his shoulder. He suffered these injuries at different times but while working for the same employer. The employer paid some medical benefits for both…
Date: May 14, 2021
Citation: 486 P.3d 181
Docket Number: S-17749
Justia Opinion Summary: An Alaskan superior court denied a father’s motion to modify a foreign court’s custody determination because it did not believe it had subject matter jurisdiction to modify the order under the Uniform Child Custody…
Date: May 7, 2021
Docket Number: S-17335
Justia Opinion Summary: Two women were hospitalized following psychiatric emergencies. In each instance hospital staff petitioned the superior court for an order authorizing hospitalization for evaluation, and the superior court granted the…
Date: May 7, 2021
Citation: 485 P.3d 1030
Docket Number: S-17553
Justia Opinion Summary: Two police officers retired from the Anchorage Police Department (APD) due to discrimination and retaliation. Years later, a jury found that they had been constructively discharged and awarded them lost past wages and…
Date: May 7, 2021
Citation: 485 P.3d 1040
Docket Number: S-17642
Justia Opinion Summary: Two commercial fishing companies caught and processed fish in the Exclusive Economic Zone off the Alaska coast, but outside Alaska’s territorial waters. Their vessels arrived at Alaska ports where they could transfer…
Date: May 7, 2021
Citation: 485 P.3d 1058
Docket Number: S-17756
Justia Opinion Summary: Nora D. was an 82-year-old woman residing in an assisted living facility. She suffered a stroke in April 2016, and she reportedly continued to suffer resulting physical and mental limitations. In 2017 Nora gave her son,…
Date: May 7, 2021
Citation: 485 P.3d 1026
Docket Number: S-17777
Justia Opinion Summary: After two fishing boats collided at sea, the owner of one of the boats sued the other. Among his claims was an alleged violation of Alaska’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act (UTPA). After the case…
Date: May 5, 2021
Docket Number: S-17503
Date: April 30, 2021
Citation: 485 P.3d 1010
Docket Number: S-17606
Justia Opinion Summary: After the Department of Corrections (DOC) investigated an allegation that a probation officer was providing special treatment in return for sexual favors and found it to be unsubstantiated, the probation officer sought…
Date: April 30, 2021
Citation: 485 P.3d 545
Docket Number: S-17768
Justia Opinion Summary: A national political organization engaged an Alaska media consultant to reserve over $1 million worth of television advertising time prior to the 2018 gubernatorial primary race. The national organization did not…
Date: April 23, 2021
Docket Number: S-17309
Justia Opinion Summary: A federal district court certified two questions of law to the Alaska Supreme Court. Schlumberger Technology Corporation was a Texas corporation providing technology services to the oil and gas industry in Alaska. Travis…
Date: April 23, 2021
Citation: 485 P.3d 537
Docket Number: S-17502
Justia Opinion Summary: Two defendants in a wrongful death suit settled with the decedent’s estate, resulting in a recovery for her minor child’s benefit. The estate’s attorney received payment from the settlement, but the remaining funds were…
Date: April 23, 2021
Citation: 485 P.3d 39
Docket Number: S-17556
Justia Opinion Summary: A husband and wife sued medical care providers after the wife suffered a seizure, allegedly due to a doctor’s decision to abruptly discontinue her medication. The superior court granted summary judgment to the medical…
Date: April 23, 2021
Docket Number: S-17593
Justia Opinion Summary: The employee of a subcontractor on a state public works project sued the prime contractor’s surety bond for unpaid labor under Alaska’s Little Miller Act. The trial court ruled the employee failed to give notice to the…
Date: April 16, 2021
Citation: 484 P.3d 484
Docket Number: S-17106
Justia Opinion Summary: A patient sued a hospital, arguing the hospital violated the Alaska Health Care Decisions Act (HCDA) when it temporarily assumed decision-making authority over his medical care while he was incapacitated and treated him…
Date: April 16, 2021
Citation: 484 P.3d 599
Docket Number: S-17634
Justia Opinion Summary: An Alaska State Commission for Human Rights (State) employee with preexisting medical conditions was involved in a work-related motor vehicle accident in January 2017. The employee consulted with Dr. Teresa Bormann two…
Date: April 14, 2021
Docket Number: S-17670
Date: April 9, 2021
Citation: 484 P.3d 572
Docket Number: S-17500
Justia Opinion Summary: PLC, LLC and its co-party MH2, LLC (collectively PLC) held an overriding royalty interest in an Alaska oil and gas lease in the Ninilchik Unit. The unit operator applied to expand a subset of that unit called the Falls…
Date: April 9, 2021
Citation: 484 P.3d 120
Docket Number: S-17669
Justia Opinion Summary: Homer, Alaska's Advisory Planning Commission (the Commission) approved a conditional use permit for the owners of a bicycle shop seeking to expand their entryway and install a covered porch. An objecting Homer resident…
Date: April 2, 2021
Citation: 484 P.3d 93
Docket Number: S-17157
Justia Opinion Summary: Members of the plaintiff class were former Alaska State employees. When they enrolled in the State employee retirement system, a statute provided that if they left eligible employment, withdrew their contributions to the…
Date: April 2, 2021
Citation: 484 P.3d 106
Docket Number: S-17546
Justia Opinion Summary: For years, a municipality issued, and sought reimbursement for, construction bonds that did not satisfy the equal payments requirement of Alaska's school debt reimbursement program, and the Department of Education and…
Date: April 2, 2021
Citation: 483 P.3d 896
Docket Number: S-17797
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Office of Children’s Services (OCS) took custody of three Indian children after reports of substance abuse and domestic violence in their mother’s home. For two years OCS was unable to contact the children’s…
Date: March 26, 2021
Citation: 483 P.3d 179
Docket Number: S-17573
Justia Opinion Summary: Debra Wilson and David Aubert married in September 2007. They separated ten years later, in June 2017. They had no children together, but each had adult children from prior marriages. Debra filed for divorce in July…
Date: March 17, 2021
Docket Number: S-17601
Date: March 17, 2021
Docket Number: S-17626
Date: March 12, 2021
Docket Number: S-17496
Justia Opinion Summary: The State of Alaska claimed the right under Revised Statute 2477 (RS 2477) to clear land and permit the use of boat launches, camping sites, and day use sites within an alleged 100-foot right of way centered on a road on…
Date: March 12, 2021
Citation: 482 P.3d 377
Docket Number: S-17517
Justia Opinion Summary: A project developer that used state-allocated federal tax credits for a low-income housing project sued the state housing authority, asserting an option to eliminate a contractual obligation to maintain the project as…
Date: March 5, 2021
Citation: 484 P.3d 80
Docket Number: S-17298
Justia Opinion Summary: A business owner formed a brewing company with plans to open a brewpub. He signed a lease that provided rent-free access to a commercial unit for a period of time to allow him to prepare the rental space prior to opening…
Date: March 3, 2021
Docket Number: S-17724
Date: February 19, 2021
Docket Number: S-17110
Justia Opinion Summary: An employee sued her former employer for wrongful termination. The employee died, but her attorney continued to litigate, negotiate, and mediate the case for another year before informing the court or opposing counsel of…
Date: February 19, 2021
Citation: 480 P.3d 1200
Docket Number: S-17321
Justia Opinion Summary: Several months after returning from maternity leave, an association’s employee accepted a new special projects position with reduced hours that allowed her to work from home. Later that year she was terminated; the…
Date: February 17, 2021
Docket Number: S-17448
Date: February 17, 2021
Docket Number: S-17640
Date: February 12, 2021
Citation: 480 P.3d 612
Docket Number: S-17465
Justia Opinion Summary: In March 2014, Evvie Punches rented a one-bedroom apartment in the Conifer Groves complex in Anchorage; she renewed the lease in April 2015. The complex was owned by McCarrey Glen Apartments, LLC and managed by Weidner…
Date: February 12, 2021
Citation: 480 P.3d 626
Docket Number: S-17490
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a divorce trial the superior court unevenly divided a marital estate. The smaller share recipient appealed several points related to findings about alleged marital waste, calculations concerning the parties’…
Date: February 12, 2021
Citation: 480 P.3d 598
Docket Number: S-17778
Justia Opinion Summary: Walker E. (father) and Astrid S. had five children together. Before moving to Alaska in 2014, the family had interactions with a protective services agency in Oklahoma following rumors of neglect and abuse. In Alaska,…
Date: February 10, 2021
Docket Number: S-17731
Date: February 3, 2021
Docket Number: S-17327
Date: January 27, 2021
Docket Number: S-17795
Date: January 22, 2021
Citation: 479 P.3d 399
Docket Number: S-17492
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997, Kelley Maves was convicted of two sexual assaults in Colorado. He moved to Alaska in 2015, where the Department of Public Safety required him to register for life as a sex offender under the Alaska Sex Offenders…
Date: January 15, 2021
Citation: 478 P.3d 1217
Docket Number: S-17491
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Department of Corrections investigated its employee David Wilson for potentially criminal misconduct. It ordered him to answer questions from investigators but assured him that his answers and any evidence…
Date: January 13, 2021
Docket Number: S-17458
Date: January 13, 2021
Docket Number: S-17565
Date: January 8, 2021
Citation: 478 P.3d 665
Docket Number: S-17414
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alaska Division of Banking and Securities civilly fined Sitnasuak Native Corporation shareholder Austin Ahmasuk for submitting a newspaper opinion letter about Sitnasuak’s shareholder proxy voting procedures without…
Date: January 8, 2021
Citation: 478 P.3d 679
Docket Number: S-17818
Justia Opinion Summary: Sponsors of an initiative that would revise taxation for a defined set of oil producers filed a superior court complaint seeking declaratory judgment that the lieutenant governor’s initiative ballot summary was not true…
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