Committee Description
- seek to illuminate harsh and unfair sentencing practices that are responsible for mass incarceration and racial disparities in the prison system;
- support and seek to increase trust and public Safety by advancing effective law-enforcement practices;
- fight for the restoration of the voting rights of formally incarcerated people and the removal of barriers to employment;
- elevate the voices of crime victim survivors in order to identify and advance systemic breakdowns existing in the criminal justice system that perpetuate crime;
- resolve to end the war on drugs for its disproportionate collateral consequences harm communities of color;
- seek the institution and availability of alternatives to incarceration including education employment and mental health services;
- illuminate zero tolerance policy is implemented in our schools which are keeping kids out of the classroom and putting them on a path from the school house to the jailhouse;
- investigate programs implemented in our local law-enforcement agencies which do you rail from their main purpose of safety and order to conduct the work of federal agencies for which they do not have the capacity, and;
- seek budget modifications in states where incarceration receives more funding than education.
Our Aim
The Justice Committee aims to evaluate, educate about and advocate for pending legislation that addresses the criminal justice system and law enforcement.
Committee Chair- Rich Curtner
Interested in serving on this committee?
If you are interested in serving on this committee, please register here. A representative of the ABC will contact you to follow-up.
Committee Updates
Senate Bill 62: Parole Board Reforms
Alaska Black Caucus Justice Committee Report for 3/31/2025 The Alaska Black Caucus supports Senate Bill 62: Parole Board Reforms The Alaska Department of Corrections significantly
Justice Committee March Report
Alaska Black Caucus Justice Committee Report for 2/27/2025 Reestablishing the Public Safety Advisory Commission The Anchorage Assembly initially established the Public Safety Advisory Commission (PSAC)
Justice February Report
We are thrilled to participate in the 6th Annual Bettye Davis African American Healthy Families Summit on February 8, 2025, at Bettye Davis East Anchorage
Civilian Oversight of the Anchorage Police Department
On August 13, 2024, an Anchorage Police Officer shot and killed 16-year-old Easter Leafa. In response to this incident and the five prior officer-involved shootings
Civilian Oversight of the Anchorage Police Department
Civilian Oversight of the Anchorage Police Department
This spring, patrol officers of the Anchorage Police Department (APD) were equipped with body-worn cameras. This summer, APD officers were involved in the shootings that resulted in four fatalities. In three of those incidents, the events were captured on body cameras. While the footage was unsettling, it provided the public with insight into the police’s use of deadly force in these situations. The Alaska Department of Law ultimately deemed all the shootings “justified.”
BODY CAMS, FINALLY!
The Anchorage Daily News editorial board must be reading the Alaska Black Caucus Boldly Committed Newsletter. Here is an excerpt from the ADN editorial board
