The Alaska State Supreme Court in conjunction with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District will be holding a live session at the KCHS Renee C. Henderson Auditorium on Thursday, March 29th. The session will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run through 11:45 a.m. The program is open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to arrive at least 30 minutes early to allow time for security screening.
KPBSD Assistant Superintendent John O’Brien: “Thursday, the Alaska State Supreme Court will actually be coming to the Peninsula and holding a live court session and that will be happening at Kenai Central High School. You can tune in to hear the case; look for a link on our website. We’ll be live broadcasting that thorough the internet on our social media site.”
The Alaska Supreme Court will be on stage discussing a state-filed appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court ruling on the Alaska Democratic Party vs the State of Alaska lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state statute that requires a candidate who runs in a political party’s primary election to be a registered member of that party. The Alaska Democratic Party filed suit against the State in order to be allowed to run unaffiliated candidates, who are not registered Democrats, in its 2018 political party primary.
Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg, in October, over-ruled the statute stating that it violates the Alaska Democratic Party’s First Amendment right to associate with non-Democratic candidates. Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth then decided to appeal that ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court.
The State is seeking to expedite consideration by the Alaska Supreme Court in order to provide clarity before the deadline for candidates to file declarations of candidacy for the elections of 2018.
A copy of the appeal from the Superior Court, First Judical District at Juneau filed by Judge Pallenberg is attached below.
State of Alaska vs Alaska Democratic Party appeal: Click Here