In her first address to the Alaska Legislature since becoming head of the Alaska Supreme Court, Chief Justice Susan Carney told lawmakers that the court system is failing to deliver justice “expeditiously.”
Alaska’s chief justice speaks to the Alaska Legislature each year, and Carney’s speech was the first since a scathing ProPublica-Anchorage Daily News investigation found that the time needed to try Alaska’s most serious felony cases has nearly tripled in the past decade.
In one case, a sexual assault witnessed by Anchorage police needed seven years to go to trial.
Carney said that case and others featured in the investigation “are extraordinary” but that the state court system “must, and we will, improve how we handle criminal cases to prevent that kind of delay.”
Carney said misdemeanors are decided in a median of six months or less. The median is the amount in the middle — half of cases take less time, while half take more.
The court system’s statistics show a large number of outliers. As of Jan. 9, 2024, there were more than 1,500 criminal cases in Anchorage District Court that were at least one year old.
Felonies, which are more serious and complicated, take more time, with the timeline escalating along with the seriousness of the alleged crime.
C-level felonies, the lowest-level felonies, are resolved in a median time of six months. Unclassified felonies, which include murder, take a median time of three years.
The National Center for State Courts recommends that 98% of felonies take no more than a year.
Speaking to the Legislature, Carney said the court system is improving. It closed more cases last year than were opened, which is reducing the backlog of unresolved cases.
“We’ve worked hard, and we continue to work hard toward that end. As of last month, we had one-third fewer cases open than we did a year ago. And as of last month, we had the lowest number of open criminal cases since 2018, so we are making progress,” she said.
Carney acknowledged that the court system has more work left to do. At the system’s annual judicial conference, more than a third of the agenda was devoted to the issue of speeding trials.
The court system has authorized overtime and brought in pro tem judges — judges who recently retired but are still able to practice law — in order to spread the caseload around.
“Reducing the number of open criminal cases and the time it takes to get them done is our No. 1 priority at all levels of the court,” she said.
Criminal cases account for only about one-quarter of the work the court system does. To help deal with civil matters, the court system has a new “early resolution” program for divorces and custody cases, plus an online dispute resolution program to cope with matters dealing with debts.
The court system is planning to roll out an artificial-intelligence chatbot to help Alaskans with estate cases and other matters that arise when a family member dies, Carney said.
“It will use generative AI, and it will help people navigate that complicated process of dealing with an estate when they’ve lost a loved one,” she said.
The court system also has partnerships with tribal courts and other alternative court programs to keep cases out of the ordinary justice system.
Carney also delivered a request for funding to the Legislature, asking for money to expand the courthouse in Palmer to cope with the rising number of cases coming out of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the state’s fastest-growing region.
In Alaska, the chief justice serves on a rotating basis: Every three years, the Supreme Court’s five members vote to pick a chief justice to serve as the court system’s top administrative officer and the head of the high court.
Carney, who has served on the court since 2016, is now its most senior member and is only the second woman to serve as chief justice. With the appointment of Aimee Oravec to the court in December, it’s the first time that a majority of the court’s members are women.
“It has been a long time coming, but it’s an example for Alaska’s children that they can aspire to these kinds of positions and know that they can do them,” Carney said.
After the speech, legislators were generally favorable.
“From what we’ve been hearing, they’re making progress, but there’s work still to do,” said Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I expect I will invite the court here (to the judiciary committee) in the next few weeks to give a little more detailed discussion with some more back and forth,” he said.
• This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
