Justice Carney deserves to be retained on Alaska Supreme Court

The retired Fairbanks attorney who is the tireless author of the Wickersham’s Conscience blog offers the best analysis I’ve seen published anywhere about why Supreme Court Justice Susan Carney deserves to be retained on the Alaska Supreme Court.

Carney is under attack from right-wing extremists who claim that because they disagree with her on a few cases, she should be removed from the court, ignoring the weight of evidence that shows she has been a first-rate member of the Alaska Supreme Court.

Her opponents can only name three cases on which they disagree with her, which is tantamount to endorsing her record, as she has taken part in hundreds of difficult cases during the past four years.

The allegations against Carney and even the name of the group created to oppose her have been recycled time after time by ideologues who want justice, but only on their terms.

Wickersham’s Conscience is a far more reliable source than zealot Jim Minnery and the assortment of right-wing pastors and politicians airing their long-held grievances about the justice system in Alaska by going after Carney.

“She has had a distinguished career as a lawyer, as an Alaskan and as a civil servant. She has a superb work ethic, a wide understanding of the law and long experience dealing with those impacted by the law. The proof of Justice Carney’s integrity is that she is a Catholic but still respects Alaska’s rule of law and has upheld a woman’s right to choose. Still, she authored a pro-choice opinion last year, and it has the theocrats and their fellow travelers in a tizzy. Again,” writes WC.

“Since her appointment in 2016, Justice Carney has participated in hundreds of published decisions. The theocrats and Christianists found only three to criticize. The first is Alaska’s sex offender list. In effect, as written Alaska’s sex offender registration law is a lifetime sentence to a scarlet letter. If an 18 year old commits a sex crime, he goes on the list; even in his 80s he still must be registered. It’s irrational. Irrational statutes are pitched out by the courts; it’s their job; it’s a check and balance on the legislative and executive branch. But rather than throw that statute out, the Alaska Supreme Court created a process by which an offender could petition to have his name removed. If the judge found there was no risk, the offender could be exempted. Justice Carney didn’t author the opinion; she voted in the majority. The decision saved an otherwise likely unconstitutional statute. But the busybodies, stoking voter fears, have tried to make the decision “extremist.”

The second cases cited by the right-wing opponents is about abortion and equal protection.

“The abortion monomaniacs can’t see that equal protection benefits them, and that creating dubious exceptions jeopardizes that fundamental constitutional right. Protecting equal protection is the exact opposite of “extreme.” So, instead of seeking a constitutional amendment simply banning abortion – not likely to be popular in individualistic Alaska – they attack Justice Carney.”

The third case is about the Permanent Fund Dividend. This was apparently thrown into the mix because every deceptive Alaska campaign features claims that someone is trying to “steal your dividend.” The court decision was unanimous in upholding the legislative power of appropriation.

“And that’s all they’ve got. They don’t accuse her of being corrupt, or being partial. They don’t cite any defective reasoning, or violation of precedent. Out of those hundreds of decisions, they’ve got nothing. They certainly don’t offer a reason to vote her off the court.”

“They tried the same stunt with Justice Dana Fabe. But this time they don’t stop with Justice Carney. This time, the busybodies, Christianists and their fellow travelers are even more ambitious: they want to throw out the Alaska judicial selection process and substitute something else. But here’s the thing: all of the other judicial selection methods are worse.”

“Some folks don’t vote all the way down the ballot, leaving the checkboxes blank for the judges. You can’t do that this time; there’s too much at stake. Follow the recommendations of the Alaska Judicial Council: vote to retain all Alaska judges and justices standing for retention election,” WC writes.