Introduction:
With the assistance of Lawyers Defending American Democracy, Alaska lawyers have the opportunity to sign the following letter calling on Senator Murkowski and Senator Sullivan to fulfill their congressional duty to serve as a check on presidential actions that upend our Constitution and the rule of law. For the sake of our democracy, please add your name to the letter and share it with your colleagues.
Alaska attorneys might also wish to sign the separate letter from Lawyers Defending American Democracy calling on President Trump to abide by the standards and values of our democracy. As lawyers, we have an obligation to take a stand for the rule of law and for our system of government.
Charles E. Cole, Former Attorney General, State of Alaska
Walter L. Carpeneti, Chief Justice, Supreme Court (Ret.)
The Open Letter:
Dear Senators Murkowski and Sullivan:
We are Alaska lawyers writing to enlist your support in defending the constitutional values and norms of political behavior on which our democracy depends. These core values and principles – the rule of law, institutional checks and balances, separation of powers, freedom of the press, truthfulness to the public, and the integrity of our justice system – are under attack.
In our system of government, laws are only as good as those willing to uphold them. When a president disregards core values and principles, it is the duty of Congress to serve as a check – otherwise the rule of law becomes meaningless.
President Donald Trump is actively challenging the rule of law and undermining constitutional values and principles. Among other things, he is subverting the independence and integrity of the federal criminal justice and intelligence agencies; he is blocking proper congressional oversight of his administration at every level; he has indicated his willingness to take assistance from foreign governments for the next election; he is failing to fulfill his constitutional duty by appointing “acting” administrators to positions subject to consent by the Senate; he has improperly invoked emergency powers over the border wall to circumvent Congress’ appropriation power; and almost every day more evidence emerges of the President’s violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause.
In direct contradiction of America’s first amendment principles, President Trump has repeatedly attacked the mainstream news media as the “enemy of the American people,” sowing the seeds of violence against journalists. And he undercuts the integrity of the courts with the blanket condemnation that our justice system is “broken and unfair” and by pillorying judges and decisions that he dislikes.
A new, nonpartisan organization called Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD) has recently published an Open Letter to the President and Congress addressing these issues, www.lawyersdefendingdemocracy.org. As it notes, in part:
The President’s attacks on these core American democratic principles undermine the foundations of our Constitution and threaten the rule of law. Unless challenged and checked, this pattern of disregard weakens the norms that underpin America’s self-government and invites unfettered executive power – transforming the United States from a democracy to an autocracy. As members of the legal profession, pledged to support the rule of law and the constitutional separation of powers, we must not allow this to happen.
The values and principles threatened here [transcend] politics, policy differences and any politician’s self-interest. They’re the bedrock of our American, constitutional, democratic form of government.
We are specifically asking you to issue a statement supporting Lawyers Defending American Democracy’s Open Letter (https://lawyersdefendingdemocracy.org/letter/) and cause it to be published in the Congressional Record. We also believe that the Letter could be a worthwhile point of reference for a Judiciary Committee hearing on the challenges currently facing the rule of law in our country. We would hope for bi-partisan support in both chambers. As noted in Lawyers Defending American Democracy’s Open Letter, prominent conservative lawyers have recently spoken out on many of these same issues through a new organization, “Checks and Balances.” We ask you to do the same.
More broadly, we are asking you to join us and take a stand for America’s core values and principles. We ask that you publicly call on the Senate leadership and your Congressional colleagues to take all actions available to preserve and protect America’s democracy.
Thank you.
Signers (NOTE: Please be aware that there will be a time lag between completing the form and your name appearing as a signatory. Thank you for your understanding.)
| Amanda Harber – Soldotna, Alaska; Attorney |
| Anna C Crary – Anchorage; Attorney, private practice |
| Annalee McConnell – Juneau, AK; Former Director, State of Alaska Office of Management and Budget |
| Averil Lerman, Anchorage, AK; Formerly with the Federal Public Defender; Retired |
| Barbara Craver – Juneau, Alaska; Retired |
| Bruce A Bookman – Anchorage; Bookman & Helm LLP. Retired |
| Caitlin Shortell – Anchorage, AK; Owner and Attorney, Shortell Law LLC; former Assistant Attorney General, State Department of Law |
| Camillé Oechsli Taylor – Anchorage, AK; Retired |
| Clifford J Groh, II – Anchorage, Alaska; Former Assistant District Attorney, State of Alaska |
| Cynthia Strout – Anchorage, Alaska; Former President of the Alaska Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers |
| Dan Wayne – Juneau Alaska; Member of Alaska Bar Association 28 years |
| Daniel Bruce – Juneau, Alaska; Baxter Bruce & Sullivan PC |
| Danielle Baileu – Anchorage, AK; Attorney, State of Alaska |
| Deborah A. Holbrook – Juneau; Law Office of Deborah A. Holbrook |
| Deborah Greenberg – Anchorage, AK; Assistant District Attorney, Alaska/Assistant Attorney General, Alaska |
| Deborah O’Regan – Anchorage; Alaska Bar Association |
| Dena Ivey – Anchorage, Alaska; Attorney |
| Douglas Mertz – Juneau, Alaska; Mertz Law Office |
| Edward H. Hein – Juneau, Alaska; United States Administrative Law Judge (retired) |
| Elizabeth Ann Gifford – Juneau, Alaska; Retired from Faulkner Banfield, P.C. |
| Elizabeth M. Bakalar – Juneau, Alaska; Former Senior Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alaska, Department of Law, Current Solo Practitioner |
| Emily Wright – Juneau, Ak; Alaska Bar Member |
| Emma Haddix – Anchorage, AK; State of Alaska, Senior Assistant Attorney General |
| Eric Kueffner – Juneau, Alaska; Retired from Faulkner Banfield, P.C. |
| Erin Dougherty Lynch – Anchorage, AK; Native American Rights Fund, Senior Staff Attorney |
| Erin M Lillie – Nome, Alaska; LT Nome Law, PC: Partner |
| Evan Chyun – Anchorage, AlK; Former Assistant Public Advocate, State of Alaska |
| Glenn Cravez – Anchorage, Alaska; Law Office of Glenn E. Cravez, Inc. |
| Helen Sharratt – Eagle River, Alaska; Legal Services & Guardian Ad Litem |
| Jack Garyth Poulson – Juneau, AK; Sanders Poulson Woolford, LLC |
| James R Jackson – Crozet, VA; GCI |
| Janna Stewart – Anchorage, Alaska; Former Alaska Court System, retired/inactive |
| John Gaguine – Juneau, AK; Former Assistant Attorney General |
| John Murtagh – Anchorage, AK; Solo private practice since 1982 |
| Joseph W Geldhof – JUneau; Law Office of Joseph W. Geldhof |
| Kathleen Strasbaugh – Juneau, AK; Solo practitioner and former Alaska Assistant Attorney General |
| Kevin F. McCoy – Anchorage, Alaska 99501; Office of the Federal Defender for the District of Alaska |
| Kristina Miller – Fairbanks, Alaska; Alaska Bar Association, Practicing Attorney |
| Laura C. Bottger – Bainbridge Island, AK; Former Assistant Attorney General, Alaska |
| Lee Holen – Anchorage, AK; Lee Holen Law Office |
| Leslie Hiebert – Anchorage; Private Practice |
| Lisa DeCora – Anchorage, AK; Big Fire Law & Policy Group |
| Lisa DeCora – Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Bar Member |
| Lisa Weissler – Juneau, Alaska; Assistant Attorney General, State of Alaska, Retired |
| Marianna Carpeneti – Juneau, AK; State of Alaska, Office of Public Advocacy |
| Mark C Choate – Juneau, Alaska; Choate Law Firm LLC |
| Mary Alice McKeen – Juneau; Administrative Judge, Office of Administrative Appeals, National Marine Fisheries Service (ret.) |
| Megan Sandone – Anchorage, Alaska; Jermain Dunnagan & Owens |
| Meredith Ahearn – Anchorage, Alaska; Lawyers Defending America |
| Michael A. D. Stanley – Juneau, Alaska; None |
| Michael J. Frank – Anchorage, AK; Former member of Alaska and Michigan Bar Associations |
| Michael Stark – Juneau AK; Former Assistant Attorney General and Vice Chair Alaska Board of Parole |
| Michelle Nesbett – Anchorage, Alaska; Nesbett Law Offices and former Assistant District Attorney, State of Alaska |
| Moira K. Smith – Anchorage, AK; Attorney |
| Monica Elkinton – Anchorage, Alaska; Assistant Municipal Attorney, Municipality of Anchorage |
| Nancy Wainwright – Anchorage, Alaska; Wainwright Legal Services, LLC. |
| R. Scott Taylor – Anchorage, Alaska; Former Senior Asstistant Attorney General; Private Practice |
| Ryan W. Jager – Anchorage, Alaska; Solo Practitioner |
| Sarah J Felix – Portland, OR; Assistant Attorney General, State of Alaska, Department of Law |
| Shelley K Chaffin – Anchorage, AK; Law Office of Shelley K. Chaffin |
| Steve White – Juneau, Alaska; Assistant Attorney General, former |
| Tara Wheatland – Anchorage, AK; Attorney |
| Tom Koester – Juneau, Alaska; Retired |
| W. David Weed – Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Bar Association; The State Bar of California (inactive) |
| Walter (Bud) Carpeneti – Juneau, Alaska; Chief Justice, Alaska Supreme Court (Ret.) |