1996-10-21                     House Journal                      Page 4829
HB 104                                                                       
The following letter, dated June 29, 1996, was received:                       
                                                                               
Dear Speaker Phillips:                                                         
                                                                               
Under the authority of art. II, sec. 15, of the Alaska Constitution, I         
have vetoed the following bill:                                                
                                                                               
SENATE CS FOR CS FOR SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR                                   
HOUSE BILL NO. 104(FIN)                                                        
An Act relating to disclosures of information about certain                   
minors.                                                                        
                                                                               
Although I believe it is appropriate to disclose certain types of              
information about juveniles who commit crimes, I have vetoed the bill          
because its approach to disclosure is flawed.                                  
                                                                               
The bill allows peace officers to release information about the arrest         
of juveniles if the offense is one that would be a felony if committed         
by an adult.  Initial arrest information, however, is often inaccurate.        
A juvenile may be charged with a felony crime at the time of arrest            
only to later have the charges reduced to a misdemeanor after a                
thorough investigation.  In this scenario, information about the juvenile      
would have already been released to the public although the charge did         
not meet the felony criteria.                                                  
                                                                               
In situations when a juvenile is later found innocent of the charges or        
perhaps was the victim of mistaken identity, a release of information          
will have already occurred based on the arrest.  This would be a great         

1996-10-21                     House Journal                      Page 4830
HB 104                                                                       
injustice for a juvenile who has committed no crime.  The purpose of           
current confidentiality practice is precisely to prevent this type of          
occurrence.  These juveniles would have no recourse to publicly clear          
their records because the information needed to do so is contained in          
agency juvenile records, which are required to be kept confidential            
under current state law (AS 47.10.093).  This bill does not change             
these requirements.  Release of any information from agency juvenile           
records is also prohibited under Title IV of the federal Social Security       
Act, through which the Department of Health and Social Services                
receives a substantial amount of funding.                                      
                                                                               
I support the disclosure of information in some juvenile delinquency           
cases.  This bill, however, is shortsighted in its approach and has the        
potential to unfairly treat juveniles who should not fall under its            
purview.  The Conference on Youth and Justice is finalizing its                
recommendations on this as well as other juvenile justice issues, all of       
which will be completed prior to the next legislative session.  It seems       
appropriate to consider those recommendations, which have come from            
a diverse bipartisan group, rather than adopting an approach that does         
not provide for reasonable protections in the treatment of  juveniles.         
                                                                               
							Sincerely,                                                              
							/s/                                                                     
							Tony Knowles                                                            
							Governor