Court System rule change will

By James Brooks Alaska Beacon www.alaskabeacon.com

On May 1, the Alaska Court System will remove the marijuana possession convictions of about 750 Alaskans from Courtview, the state’s online database of court cases.

The Alaska Supreme Court announced the move in an order signed Jan. 31 by the court’s five justices. The action, first publicized Sunday by the Alaska Landmine, follows years of similar unsuccessful legislative efforts to join a nationwide trend.

“I’m glad that the Supreme Court has ordered this,” said Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks.

The records will still be available for inspection at courthouses and will be discoverable by a formal criminal background check, but they won’t be as easy to find for the general public.

The removal covers only people who were 21 or older when they committed the offense of possessing an ounce or less of marijuana. The conviction can’t be associated with another crime.

Nancy Meade, general counsel for the Alaska Court System, declined an interview request on behalf of the Supreme Court justices who approved the new order.

Meade said the change originated with administrative staff and was considered by the justices under normal procedures.

“Given that (marijuana) has been legal for eight years, it appeared to the Supreme Court that this was an appropriate time not to have people, as I say, suffer the negative consequences that can stem from having your name posted on Courtview. Because the conduct is con- provided social benefit programs, for the promotion of the general welfare, are not includible in a recipient’s gross income.” sidered legal right now,” she said.

The Alaska Supreme Court in 2017 ruled that the amount of the PFD is nothing special under the law, merely a distribution of state general fund dollars and subject to the same legislative appropriation process as any other budget item, such as schools or troopers or road repairs.

Sure sounds like that could meet the IRS test of a government payment with a social benefit and for the promotion of general welfare. All we need to do is change the law to admit that the PFD is a state program intended to benefit Alaskans, unrelated to what the Permanent Fund may earn on its stocks, bonds, real estate and other investments that year and, of course, subject to the annual political appropriation process.

It’s not really that hard to admit the truth.

As states legalize recreational marijuana cultivation and use, they’re also considering whether to expunge, seal or otherwise obscure the criminal records of people who were convicted of marijuana-related crimes before legalization.

A criminal record could prevent someone from getting a job or housing, and obscuring marijuana records may prevent that problem for people convicted of nonviolent marijuana crimes.

“A lot of folks in my district, they have these barriers that are put in place, and a simple rule change, policy change, legislation, could change it for their entire lives,” said Rep. Stanley Wright, R-Anchorage.

In 2019 alone, Illinois, New Hampshire, Nevada and Washington state passed legislation obscuring marijuana-related convictions; altogether, 41 states have some form of legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Alaska isn’t one of those states, despite a bipartisan push last year. In 2022, the state House voted 30-8 to approve a bill to conceal marijuana convictions from Courtview and criminal background searches, but the measure failed to pass the Senate before the legislative session ended. A similar bill was also proposed by Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla. Wright reintroduced the bill this year and already has five Democratic and independent cosponsors.

He said on Tuesday that he’s still considering whether the bill is needed; a law may be necessary, he said, in order to prevent a future