OPINION: The ongoing need for Alaskans to stand up for our constitutional rights

The Alaska Constitution protects our core values; it sets our right to live free from governmental interference, our right to speak, assemble and petition the government, our right to privacy and to equal protection under the law. It is also unique in the way it calls out our collective responsibilities to one and other, explicitly stating that we have “corresponding obligations to the people and to the State.”

These values define us as Alaskans, and our constitution obligates our government to protect them. During the most recent legislative session, too many elected officials ignored and, in some instances, actively undermined this obligation. Too often, we witnessed efforts where our government sought to interfere with our protected rights. The measure of this legislative session is disappointing, because far too much time and energy was spent distracted in considering unconstitutional bills.

For example, the governor introduced a bill to restrict public protest and impose criminal and monetary sanctions on people exercising their rights to speak and assemble. The proposed bill clearly violated the First Amendment, and its passage would have intimidated many Alaskans into silence. Ultimately, that bill did not pass — in large part because so many of us raised our voices to protest its danger to our constitutional rights.

Similarly, the rights of Alaskans to petition our government were trampled when a legislative committee abruptly cancelled a hearing that would have examined the record number of deaths of people in state custody. Family members, advocates, and experts took time to address their representatives about this crisis, as is their right. Rather than letting them speak, a majority of the committee overrode their own chair — who had called the hearing — and used an obscure and rarely applied procedural pretext to shut down testimony.

The right to privacy is one of our most defining and cherished rights as Alaskans and even this fundamental value was challenged by a minority of legislators. Our courts have repeatedly upheld that the right to privacy protects reproductive rights and overwhelming numbers of Alaskans support reproductive freedom. Nonetheless, our Legislature entertained a “fetal personhood” bill that would have dramatically compromised these rights and potentially endangered the lives of pregnant Alaskans.

Equal protection also came under threat this session as multiple bills were introduced that discriminate against trans people. One of these bills would have created expansive physician liability for doctors who provided gender affirming care for Alaskans, making it even harder to access medical care in Alaska. Another bill, to prevent trans girls from competing in school sports, failed to pass both chambers, but still passed the House after legislators spent 12 precious hours debating the issue at the end of session. Hearing after hearing, the burden fell on trans people, especially young people, to endure divisive and discriminatory language coming from our state’s leaders. While these bills failed to pass into law, we are reminded that government-sponsored discrimination still is active in Alaska and it is up to us to stop it.

The state lost its last surviving constitutional signer last fall when Vic Fischer died. This past session was the first one since statehood without a direct tie to that foundational document. Honoring that legacy means that it falls to each of us to remember that Alaska’s constitution is an expression of our unique Alaska identity. To assure a future that respects our values, we must also remember and practice all parts of the Alaska Constitution, especially the sections that call upon us to fulfill our obligations to one another and to the future of our state.

Mara Kimmel is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska.

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