When members of Congress wrote proposed legislation about admitting Alaska into the Union in the 1950s, they included language about loyalty that members wanted in the future Alaska Constitution.

In a 1955 bill on page 27, they wrote about various items that had to be in the founding document. It had to be republican in form, make no distinctions about race or color and align with the principles of the Declaration of Independence and “not be repugnant” to the U.S. Constitution.

Congress said the Alaska Constitution “shall provide that no person who advocates, or who aids or belongs to any party, organization, or association which advocates the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the State of Alaska or of the United States shall be qualified to hold any public office of trust or profit under the State Constitution.”

The provision became mandatory and found its way into the Alaska Constitution. Delegate Victor Rivers, in a report to the convention, referred to the disloyalty provision as a “standard clause” mandated by law.

The delegates to Alaska’s Constitutional Convention in 1955-56 included the following provision, which is relevant in Alaska today because we have a member of the Legislature, Rep. David Eastman, who belongs to a group advocating overthrowing the U.S. government.

Eastman is a life member of Oath Keepers, a militia group whose members believe the current U.S. government is not legitimate.

The Alaska House coalition is considering a move to strip Eastman of his committee assignments. But that is not enough. The Legislature needs to implement the Disqualification for Disloyalty provision of the Alaska Constitution and send Eastman back to Wasilla.

During the constitutional convention, Rivers said of the language that “it is very hard to determine, as you all know, by actual practice, what would be considered either subversive or treason, so the clause, however, is the one that is mandatory and required in the constitution.”

In Eastman’s case, it’s not hard to determine, given his status with Oath Keepers, a group that was planning and preparing to take up arms to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Eastman has refused to disavow the group.

The leaders of Oath Keepers have been charged with seditious conspiracy.

Eastman claims this is about “cancel culture,” which is the sort of thoughtless cliche we’ve come to expect from this guy. He defends his membership in Oath Keepers. And he won’t talk about his extremism.