The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday issued a ruling in Gregory Smith v. Municipality of Anchorage that overturns the Superior Court’s dismissal of an appeal that challenged the Anchorage’s campsite abatement process.
The case stems from a June 2022 notice posted by the Municipality at Davis Park, a notorious occupation of public property. The notice announced a “zone campsite abatement” to clear the area of unauthorized campsites. Anchorage Municipal Code outlines procedures for such abatements, including a requirement to post notice and a provision allowing appeals to the Superior Court within 30 days.
Six individuals, including a man named Gregory Smith, filed an appeal, arguing that the abatement process violated due process by allowing the seizure of personal property without a hearing and infringed on Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment by removing essential items from homeless individuals.
The Superior Court dismissed the appeal, concluding that its jurisdiction was limited to reviewing whether the posted notice met the legal requirements of the municipal code, not the broader decision to abate the campsite. The judge found that since the appellants did not dispute the notice’s compliance with the code, their claims fell outside its authority.
In a unanimous opinion authored by Chief Justice Peter Maassen, the Alaska Supreme Court reversed the dismissal.
The Supreme Court held that the Superior Court’s jurisdiction actually extends beyond the notice’s legal sufficiency to include substantive challenges to the abatement decision itself, such as the constitutional issues raised by Smith. It is unusual for a Superior Court to handle constitutional questions of this nature, and this represents a major win for the ACLU.
The ruling emphasized that the municipal code’s language, which describes the posted notice as a “final administrative decision” subject to appeal, does not restrict review to the notice alone.
The court also pointed to the legislative history of the AMC, noting that prior versions allowed administrative hearings on the legality of campsites and property disposition, suggesting no intent to narrow judicial review.
The Supreme Court also addressed the Municipality’s submission of a minimal two-page administrative record, consisting only of the posted notice.
The Municipality argued that the record limited the court’s ability to review constitutional claims.
The Supreme Court has rejected this, instructing the Superior Court to determine whether the administrative record is sufficient for meaningful appellate review.
The case was remanded back to the Superior Court for further proceedings, handing the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska a temporary win, in that it has filed a brief supporting Smith’s appeal.
