Justia Alaska Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Kyle S. appealed a superior court decision that adjudicated his teenage daughter Jane a child in need of aid. Jane was taken into State custody when she was 15 years old, after she reported being physically abused by her stepmother. The superior court based its decision on Jane's propensity to run away; it made no findings about either Kyle or his wife. At the time of the adjudication hearing, Jane had several criminal charges pending. Kyle challenged the trial court's adjudication decision, arguing that the statutory subsection about runaways was unconstitutional as applied to him and that the court incorrectly concluded that the State made active efforts to prevent the family's breakup. Upon careful consideration, the Supreme Court concluded Kyle waived his constitutional argument by not raising it earlier and because the superior court's active-efforts decision was supported by the record. View "Kyle S. v. Alaska" on Justia Law

Preceding trial, the superior court suggested the parties could introduce evidence regarding an interim custody order at a subsequent hearing, so that they would have more time to reach a final settlement. During the next hearing, both parties expressed some uncertainty about the purpose of the hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court made findings to support a final custody judgment. The Supreme Court concluded that this procedure violated the mother's right to due process of law. Therefore the Court reversed and remanded the case for a new custody trial. View "Debra P. v. Laurence S." on Justia Law

Chloe O. had a history of substance abuse and mental health issues. OCS took Chloe's fifteen-month-old daughter, Ashanti, into emergency custody because of Chloe's drug abuse, suicide attempts, assaultive behaviors, and affinity for unsafe people and situations. OCS made many unsuccessful attempts to assist Chloe in obtaining treatment for her substance abuse issues and, eventually, for her mental health issues. Following a trial, Chloe's parental rights to Ashanti were terminated. Chloe appealed the trial court's termination order on several grounds, one being that OCS failed to try to reunify Chloe's family. Before briefing was completed the parties agreed that the case should be remanded to allow the trial court to reconsider the active efforts question under the correct evidentiary standard. The trial court found, by clear and convincing evidence, that OCS had made active efforts to reunify Chloe's family. Chloe appealed the trial court's finding and ultimately, the court's decision to terminate her parental rights. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed in all respects. View "Chloe O. v. Alaska" on Justia Law

The Alaska State Commission for Human Rights dismissed Gregg Conitz's complaint against his employer, Teck Alaska Incorporated. In his complaint, Conitz alleged the company discriminated in its promotion decisions. The superior court dismissed Conitz's appeal as moot, finding that the same claims had already been decided by a federal court and that the doctrine of res judicata precluded further claims if remanded to the Commission. Conitz appealed. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed the superior courts decision. View "Conitz v. Alaska State Commission for Human Rights" on Justia Law

A judgment debtor challenged the superior court's denial of a Rule 60(b) motion to set aside an order permitting the sale of an airplane seized to execute on the judgment against him. At the time of seizure, the airplane was in the process of being reconstructed and did not have certain identifying information attached to it. Third parties claimed an interest in the seized airplane. After an evidentiary hearing the superior court determined that the judgment debtor had an interest in the airplane and permitted its sale. But at that point the underlying judgment was paid by one of the third parties, and the execution sale did not occur. The judgment debtor, joined by the third parties, filed a Rule 60(b) motion to set aside the order regarding ownership of the airplane. The superior court denied the Rule 60(b) motion and awarded attorney's fees to the judgment creditor and against the judgment debtor and the third-party claimants. Finding no error in the trial court's denial of the motion, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Schweitzer v. Salamatof Air Park Subdivision Owners, Inc." on Justia Law

Frank Griswold made a public records request for emails related to a public bond proposition. The City of Homer produced all of the emails requested, except for certain privileged emails and deleted emails that could not be recovered without expensive software. Griswold sought to compel the records not produced. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that there was sufficient record support for the superior court to decide that the city manager used "good faith and reasonable effort" to comply with the request. View "Griswold v. Homer City Council" on Justia Law

When passing a 1997 ordinance, the Anchorage Municipal Assembly amended the boundaries of a proposed Downtown Improvement District to exclude some properties on K and L Streets. The building at 420 L Street, the property owned by appellant L Street Investments, was in the original proposal but was subsequently carved out by the Assembly. In 2000 the Assembly extended the life of the District for ten years. Beginning in 2009, the Anchorage Downtown Partnership canvassed businesses hoping to extend the term of the District and expand it to include businesses between I and L Street. After the majority of business owners in the proposed District approved the extension and expansion, the Assembly extended the term of the District and expanded it to include businesses between I and L Streets, including the building at 420 L Street. L Street Investments filed suit, arguing: (1) Section 9.02(a) of the Municipality of Anchorage's Charter did not authorize the Municipality to finance services within the District by an assessment; and (2) the District is a "service area," and AS 29.35.450(c) prohibits the expansion of a service area unless a majority of voters in the area to be added vote in favor of expanding the service area. The Anchorage Downtown Partnership intervened, and all parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The superior court granted summary judgment to the Municipality and the Anchorage Downtown Partnership. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment. View "L Street Investments v. Municipality of Anchorage" on Justia Law

A mother living in Alaska filed a petition in Alaska to enforce summer visitation with her son, who lived in Tennessee with his father. After the superior court resolved the visitation issue, the father appealed, arguing that the superior court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case or, in the alternative, that the superior court should have voluntarily ceded jurisdiction to Tennessee because Alaska was an inconvenient forum. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that the superior court had jurisdiction to hear the case and did not abuse its discretion by deciding that Alaska was not an inconvenient forum. View "Steven D. v. Nicole J." on Justia Law

Grandparents were permitted to adopt their grandchild without the consent of the biological father. The superior court found that the father's consent was not required because he failed significantly without justifiable cause to communicate meaningfully with the child for a period of at least one year. On appeal, the father did not challenge the superior court's finding that he failed to communicate meaningfully with the child for at least the year-long period; he argued that this failure was justified by: (1) his incarceration; (2) an agreement he allegedly had with the child's biological mother; (3) alleged interference by the grandparents; and (4) the totality of the circumstances. The father also argued that the superior court abused its discretion by failing to consider visitation rights and by awarding attorney's fees against him. Because the record did not support the father's argument that his failure to communicate meaningfully with the child was justified, the Supreme Court concluded the superior court did not clearly err in finding that this failure was unjustified. The Court therefore affirmed the superior court's finding that the father waived his right to consent to the adoption. Because the issue of visitation rights was not raised before the superior court, the Court held that the superior court did not abuse its discretion in failing to consider the issue. Finally, because the superior court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney's fees against the father, the Court affirmed that award. View "David S. v. Jared H." on Justia Law

Two former police officers brought claims against the Municipality of Anchorage for racial discrimination, alleging a hostile work environment in violation of state law. The officers claimed damages for mental anguish, and the Municipality sought discovery concerning the nature of their mental anguish claims. But the officers refused to comply with these discovery requests, invoking the physician and psychotherapist privilege. The Municipality moved for an order to compel the officers to sign releases authorizing the disclosure of medical, pharmacy, and psychological counseling records, which the superior court granted. The officers then petitioned the Supreme Court for review of the order. Upon review, the Court concluded that the assertion of "garden-variety" mental anguish claims in an employment discrimination case does not automatically waive the physician and psychotherapist privilege. View "Kennedy v. Municipality of Anchorage" on Justia Law