Alaska Natives for years sought the release of four Native men -- known as the Fairbanks Four -- who were convicted of a murder they insisted did not commit. The men finally went free in December 2015 although one had been on parole since June 2015. Photo from Free the Fairbanks Four / Facebook
Columnist Charles Wohlforth continues his look at the justice system in Alaska, which tends to be biased against Alaska Natives and rural residents:
Evidence of systemic bias has been around a long time. A study by the Alaska Judicial Council in 1977 found that judges gave minorities longer sentences for the same crimes. But the problem resolved over time with a presumptive sentencing law that took away judges’ discretion and with case law developed through appeals of unfair sentences. A later study showed that sentences are generally fair across races now. That example shows a path. Study what’s wrong and design solutions to fix it. More than a fourth of Alaska’s inmates haven’t been convicted of a crime. They are arrested and cannot make bail and so wait in jail for trial. Since Alaska Natives tend to make less money -- Native villages have some of the lowest average incomes in the nation -- they have a harder time making bail and spend more time waiting. Defendants stuck in jail face a huge disadvantage. Their lawyers must make difficult, time-consuming visits just to meet them. For overworked public defenders, the meetings are usually about pleading guilty. If you can’t make bail, pleading guilty is often the quickest way to get out of jail, regardless of whether you committed the crime.Get the Story:
Charles Wohlforth: Alaska's justice system unfair to poor and minorities, but there are solutions (Alaska Dispatch 3/28)
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