Criminal jury trials in Alaska remain suspended until at least March 15, 2021, and in-person civil trials are suspended until Sept. 7. In addition, in-person grand juries are suspended until Feb. 1, according to updated orders from Alaska Supreme Court Justice Joel Bolger.
“When this suspension is lifted, the time for trial will continue to be tolled for the time necessary to permit an orderly transition and scheduling,” Bolger wrote on Nov. 25. That means, don’t expect a speedy trial any time next year.
“News reports indicate that the first shipments of COVID-19 vaccine could be arriving in Alaska in just a few weeks, but vaccines probably won’t be available to the general public until March 2021,” Bolger wrote in his most recent order.
The suspension of civil trials does not apply to trials in which videoconference proceedings have been approved.
[Read entire order by Chief Justice Bolger at this link.]
In October, Bolger announced plans to reinstate criminal trials by November, but then the COVID-19 outbreak intensified in Alaska. On Nov. 12, Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued an emergency alert requiring all executive branch employees to work from home whenever feasible and urging other organizations that can operate remotely to allow their employees to work from home.
The courts have been closed since March 23, over 250 days.
Presiding judges in each judicial district have leeway to make exceptions for in-person trails and grand juries under “exceptional” circumstances.
Dang, I thought Purge was only one night.
Things are gonna get sporty.
Meanwhile the criminals are on the loose!!
if the did not get paid unless they worked the schedule might well be much different…
It’s what the Elite were raised to do and strive for in their lives. To get the most money while doing the least at the expense of everyone else.
We had to do our civil trial on Zoom last month. Still awaiting the judgment, however. Courts were already overloaded before Covid hit. :'(
Courts are not overloaded! I know several judges and court staff who tell me they have little to do. Some judges do not even show up to work until 11 or right before lunch.
Not having criminal Jury trials has two Major impacts. First those who are charged and can raise bail will likely eventually have their case either dismissed for lack of evidence (witnesses go away or lose recollection.) or the case is dealt out to a misdemeanor where a person charged with a felony generally serves no time.
Second, the defendants that have no resources and are unable to post bail some of who may have a credible defense, languish in jail, because a State justice has chosen to deny the defendant his constitutional right to a speedy trial. There is nothing in the constitution that says a pandemic trumps a defendants constitutional right to a speedy trial.
A good question would be: What the hell are Criminal Division judges doing if not doing pre trials hearings, , judge or jury trials, picking juries? Not much, But they continue to collect their neatly $200 thousand dollar salaries.
Doesn’t seem right!
The court system is pretty backed up with this covid thing going on . It takes prosecutors a lot more time to do their work on paper rather than negotiate a plea orally. Florida has been working all along doing misdemeanor trials and plea bargains and first appearances online. Of course that’s Florida and not the rinky-dink Alaska court system.
Alaska’s court system seems to be in complete, maybe irreversible, shambles, which means one-third of Alaska’s state government officials can’t do what Alaska’s and America’s Constitutions say they have to do.
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Does this mean productive Alaskans are stuck in an unconstitutional situation?
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If the State’s justice system can’t or won’t protect productive Alaskans from wrongdoers in and out of government, does it mean we have to petition the U.S. Justice Department for equal protection under the law?
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If the State’s justice system can’t or won’t protect productive Alaskans from bad guys in and out of government, should Governor D. work with U.S. DOJ officials to get us equal protection under the law, China flu hysteria be damned?
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If not, Governor D., are we on our own, should we be prepping for inevitable anarchy and vigilantism?
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Gov! Where you at?
Been asking the Cowardly Lion (Dunleavy) that since the Wasilla surrender.
And here all this time I thought crime doesn’t pay.
So much for a speedy trial by a jury of your peers.
Civil rights: who needs them?
Let’s see the SOA cut off paychecks to all public employees who are not showing up for work, and then see how long they think this is a good idea.
How long is the public going to stand for the gubmint shutting down businesses, leaving private sector people unemployed, while state workers continue getting their paychecks on time without ever leaving home?
I’m one of 400 that just received a summons to serve as grand juror for the Jan / Feb / Mar 2021 term. In typically irresponsible Anchorage bureaucratic fashion the letter was dated Nov 25, the envelope was postmarked Nov 27, and I received it Nov 28… with a requirement that hardship response must be received in writing no later than Dec 1.
The letter states “please be in a space where you are alone and no one can hear you. All Grand Jury proceedings are confidential”.
But of course.
I was once in a courtroom in Dillingham because I got called for jury duty and during the selection process, a woman in front of me whipped her boobs out and started feeding a big headed kid. Both the prosecutor and the defense attorneys eyes about popped out of their head and the judge said all right I’ve seen enough of this ma’am please approach and started chewing out the woman saying how she’s done this before and she ain’t going to get away with it this time and all that . Somebody back behind me yelled white noise but the judge who happened to be a woman yelled back in our direction no there isn’t going to be no white noise I want everybody to hear this. So they made this chick pay for her flight back home. It was the oddest thing I’ve ever seen in a courtroom. Only in Alaska.
Lazy bums! It takes a real low life to use Covid to shirk their job responsibilities!
This is just further suspension of the constitutional rights of the individual in order to perpetuate a lie. The COVID is not what is was professed to be, there is a movement in government to attempt to maximize the feeding at the Federal trough by destroying the rights of the individual, and I believe there will be hundreds of lawsuits when the courts reopen.
Let me guess we are still going to pay all of the people the work in the court system to do nothing. They should get laid off like everyone in the real world when there is no work and collect unemployment till it gone and see how the rest of the working people live. No health insurance . Lose the house to the bank etc. We know that never happens to government workers.
Hey, pay me $50,000/year as a juror, and I’ll sit in on all the trials they can throw at me!
But seriously, HOW can any of these people (judges, prosecutors, etc.) justify receiving their continued cushy salaries, while performing essentially NO work at all?
All the Chicken Littles are clucking, “Covid, Covid, we’re all gonna’ die”.
Well, that are half-right, as we ALL are indeed going to die. Just the vast majority of us not from the Wuhan Flu.
All people who have trials ( Judge only, jurry or Grand Jury) should be given credit for “time served” during the delay. Particularly if they on ankle monitors, house arrest or 3rd party monitoring. ..IF they are found guilty. If these people are found not guilty, or the case is dropped they should be compensated for the time severed by being monitored in any way. Those found guilty that couldn’t make bale should obviously be given credit for time served. The innocent people who languished in jail not being able to make bail should be compensated at a higher rate than those on monitoring. None of this will restore the lost civil rigjts these people habe suffered butbibt is an attempt to do so and may prevent lawsuits against the state
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