State of Alaska Department of Law’s Post

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor thanks the Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 87 for an invitation to speak on a panel today with Alaska Native leaders at the Second Annual Alaska Civil Rights Conference in Anchorage. The panel thanked AG Taylor for attending and suggested sitting down to a friendly coffee or Diet Coke in Juneau to continue the discussion on Native Lands into Trust, to which the Attorney General agreed.   “We all come from a similar place. We all come from a place of worry about our people, worry about our culture, worry about our families and opportunity for them,” said Attorney General Taylor.   Photo L. to R. Moderator Emil Notti, Richard Peterson- President of Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska; Richard Porter-Executive Director Knik Tribal Council and Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. Photo by Patty Sullivan, AK Dept. of Law. #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor announced today that a coalition of 50 Attorneys General has reached a settlement with Marriott International, Inc. as the result of an investigation into a large multi-year data breach of one of its guest reservation databases. The Federal Trade Commission, which has been coordinating closely with the states throughout this investigation, has reached a parallel settlement with Marriott. Under the settlement with the Attorneys General, Marriott has agreed to strengthening its data security practices using a dynamic risk-based approach, provide certain consumer protections, and making a $52 million payment to the states. Alaska will receive $376,629 from the settlement. “Any business that collects and retains consumers’ personal information needs to have strong data protection policies and a plan to make sure those polices are actually being followed” said Attorney General Taylor. “People need to be able to be confident that when they trust a business with their personal information it won’t end up in the hands of scammers and thieves.” Marriott acquired Starwood in 2016 and took control of the Starwood computer network in 2016. However, from July 2014 until September 2018, intruders in the system went undetected. This led to the breach of 131.5 million guest records pertaining to customers in the United States. The impacted records included contact information, gender, dates of birth, legacy Starwood Preferred Guest information, reservation information, and hotel stay preferences, as well as a limited number of unencrypted passport numbers and unexpired payment card information. Shortly after the breach of the Starwood database was announced, a coalition of 50 Attorneys General launched a multi-state investigation into the breach. Today’s settlement resolves allegations by the Attorneys General that Marriott violated state consumer protection laws, personal information protection laws, and, where applicable, breach notification laws by failing to implement reasonable data security and remediate data security deficiencies, particularly when attempting to use and integrate Starwood into its systems. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/gquWeKa3 #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #ConsumerProtection

The Criminal Division created a new position to focus on criminal competency issues following the recent signing into law of House Bill 66, an omnibus crime bill. Senior Assistant Attorney General Kevin Dilg began the role this month. The primary responsibility of the position is initiating civil commitment proceedings and coordinating communication between the Criminal and Civil Divisions of the Department of Law when an individual is found incompetent to stand trial, a requirement that was established in HB 66. The role will work with District Attorneys to determine priority placements at API, Alaska Psychiatric Institute. “We’re fortunate to find a local attorney with Mr. Dilg’s background. His experience in working at mental health facilities, combined with his legal expertise make him an ideal fit for this position,” said Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore. “Kevin will serve as our subject matter expert on matters involving competency, including assisting in the development of training and guidance to attorneys, and assisting us with fulfilling our obligations following the passage of HB66. Kevin will also take over monitoring our API census to ensure we are using the limited resources available for services like restoration,” said Angie Kemp, Director of the Criminal Division. Dilg left his job in the Civil Division to accept the position. Before law school he was employed with a Community Psychiatric Clinic in Washington State where he developed and monitored new and ongoing mental health treatment for chronically mentally ill adults. In that role, he interacted regularly with the Mental Health Court, both as an advocate and as a witness. “I believe the competency attorney position will serve a vital role in defending the public safety in Alaska. My prior experience working with developmentally delayed and chronically mentally ill adults provides me with the necessary background to support prosecutors across the state in complying with the new legal requirements for competency proceedings and dismissals recently enacted into law,” said Senior Assistant Attorney General Dilg. #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #CriminalJustice #Competency

Let’s talk about bail hearings. What are they? And what rights do domestic violence victims have when it comes to bail hearings? Bail is set at the first hearing, which is the arraignment hearing. Bail is a monetary amount set by the court that a defendant can post in order to be released from custody. Conditions of release are also set for the defendant, and these are requirements that the defendant must follow, if they are released on bail. We want to highlight that victims have the right to have their input regarding bail and conditions of release. Victims can attend the hearing and provide their input to the judge, or let the assigned paralegal know their input, and the attorney will share their input with the judge. Here are the key domestic violence victims’ rights that apply in regards to bail: • Victims have the right to protection through bail and conditions of release (AS 12.30.010(a), (b); AS 12.30.035; AS 12.30.040(a)). • Victims have the right to receive notice of bail/release hearings, and to be heard upon request (Art. I, sec. 24, AS 12.61.010(a)(2)). • Victims have the right to specific consideration by judge for victim’s safety before releasing defendant (AS 12.30.025, AS 12.30.027, AS 12.30.029). • Victims have the right to receive a copy of conditions of release (AS 12.30.027(d)(1)). #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #DomesticViolenceAwareness #DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor announced that the Alaska Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Unit obtained court orders requiring a group of defendants to pay a total of $310,000 in civil penalties and an additional $177,349 in restitution for operating a fraudulent timeshare exit scheme. “Our office is fighting to bring scammers to justice, but Alaskans also need to vigilantly protect themselves” said Attorney General Taylor. “Alaskans should have a healthy skepticism when they receive unsolicited calls, letters or emails. And we should always do our due diligence before paying large sums to businesses, especially if they are pressing you to make payment quickly.” The complaint, which was filed June 23, 2022, alleged that the Defendants sent flashy postcards in the mail that lured timeshare owners to sales presentations at Anchorage hotels with deceptive promises of a $250 shopping card and information on how to eliminate timeshare maintenance fees, improve their ownership experience, or legally exit their timeshare. When timeshare owners arrived at the hotels, the salespeople used scare tactics, telling the timeshare owners that if they did not exit their timeshare, their maintenance fees would skyrocket and their heirs would be forced to pay the maintenance fees in perpetuity. These salespeople claimed that the only way to exit timeshare contracts was to pay for the defendants’ timeshare exit services, and that they needed to make a decision that day. But after taking thousands of dollars in upfront payments, the timeshare exit scammers never helped consumers get out of their timeshares. In addition to civil penalties and restitution, the Court’s orders ban several of the defendants from selling goods or services to Alaskans for five years. #WeAreAKLaw #ConsumerProtection #Scammers #Scams

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Director of the Criminal Division, Angie Kemp, from the Alaska Dept. of Law shared insights with KINY radio on Capital Chat on a change to the law, victim’s rights, firsthand observations and more. Here's the link: https://lnkd.in/gE96EkjC #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #DomesticViolenceAwareness #DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth

If you, or someone you know, is a victim of domestic violence, there are resources to help. You can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE/1-800-799-7233 #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #DomesticViolenceAwareness #DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth

“Domestic violence is carried out by the people meant to love and care for us the most, and in the places we’re meant to feel the safest. This makes it a much more egregious type of offense, and yet, many people are unaware of the reach of domestic violence and the resources needed to escape it. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and each day of this month our department will highlight stories of victims who left DV scenarios, statistics on its reach, and most importantly, tools to help.” -Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #DomesticViolenceAwareness #DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the Department of Law wants to highlight important rights that domestic violence victims have, as well as recognize some success stories for 2024. Victims’ rights are derived from the Alaska Constitution, as well as various Alaska Statutes. Why is recognition of domestic violence so important? Alaska has some of the highest rates of domestic violence. Nearly half of all women in the State of Alaska will experience intimate partner violence or sexual violence during their lifetime. First and foremost, we want to emphasize some key victims’ rights that start as soon as a crime occurs, and span throughout the life of a criminal case: • Victims have the right to be treated with dignity, respect and fairness. (Art. I, sec. 24) • Victims have the right to obtain medical treatment (AS 12.61.010(a)(7)) • Victims have the right to protection & information regarding protection available (AS 12.61.010(a)(4)). There are a variety of resources that are available to victims, to include paralegals, advocates, domestic violence shelters, resource entities, information regarding the criminal justice system and rights that apply throughout the process, and a variety of connections to get you the answers you seek. A great starting point is the Department of Law’s victim-witness assistance website: https://lnkd.in/gTEuJihe If a criminal case has been charged, please reach out to the paralegal assigned to your case to discuss the process and get the information you need. If you do not know who your paralegal is, please reach out to your local District Attorney’s Office and they will connect you with your paralegal. #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #DomesticViolenceAwareness #DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth

Yesterday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason for the District of Alaska vacated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) critical habitat designations for the Arctic subspecies of ringed seals and the Beringia population of bearded seals. “The federal government uses the same tactics again and again to prevent the people of Alaska from using their own land and resources,” said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. “They identify an area or activity they wish to restrict, and they declare it unusable under the guise of conservation or preservation. There is no sound logic, or science, in this approach and it doesn’t account for the fact that Alaskans have shown themselves to be good stewards of this land who use it responsibly. This win confirms what we knew to be true all along.” The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) designated immense areas for both seal species – each approximately the size of the state of Texas – as critical habitat. The Court vacated the critical habitat designation because NMFS failed: 1) to explain why such a vast area was indispensable to the species survival and recovery; 2) to account for the vast amount of habitat for the seals outside U.S. jurisdiction; and 3) to consider the economic impacts of the designation, especially in light of the State’s and North Slope Borough’s request to remove areas from the designation, near communities and the coast. The Arctic subspecies of ringed seal and the Beringia population of bearded seal were both listed as threatened under the ESA in 2012. NMFS based the listings on the predicted loss of large areas of the seals' sea ice habitat by the year 2100. However, both ringed and bearded seals continue to occupy the entirety of their vast ranges across the Arctic and populations remain healthy. Data collected by State of Alaska biologists during the past decade demonstrate that both seal species are generally healthy, with robust reproductive rates, and include no indication of population declines now or in the near future (the next 25 years). Despite this, NMFS proceeded in 2022 with designating vast areas as critical habitat, adding another unnecessary, harmful layer, to the already complex federal bureaucracy in the waters off Alaska. “NMFS has been on a path to surround the State of Alaska with massive critical habitat designations that unjustly stymie economic activity with little benefit to the species,” said Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang. “The court’s decision has stopped NMFS from designating all potential seal habitat as critical habitat regardless of whether that habitat is essential or ‘critical’ to the species. This decision brings a touch of common sense back to the ESA and will hopefully help ensure that future critical habitat designations in Alaska are more limited and designed around discrete ‘critical’ areas as they are in the lower 48.” #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #FishAndGame #Seals