1997-02-10                     Senate Journal                      Page 0269
SB 80                                                                        
Zero fiscal notes published today from Department of Law,                      
Department of Administration (2), Department of Corrections.                   
                                                                               
Governors transmittal letter dated February 10:                                
                                                                               
Dear President Miller:                                                         
                                                                               
I am transmitting this bill to further enhance the positive effects of         
a 1995 law aimed at reducing frivolous litigation filed by state               
prisoners.                                                                     
                                                                               
The bill clarifies a prisoner must pay filing fees in all types of legal       
actions against the state, including discretionary appellate review.  It       
also ensures the court will consider all prisoner financial accounts in        
determining whether an exemption from the filing fee is warranted.             
This is an extension of the 1995 law (ch. 79, SLA 1995) which                  
requires a prisoner to pay the usual filing fees for bringing a legal          
action against the state, unless the court finds the prisoner qualifies        
for an exemption based on financial information.  This bill requires           
the prisoner to submit information about money in accounts outside             
the prison as well as in-prison accounts.                                      
                                                                               
The law enacted in 1995 provides that automatic disclosure                     
provisions of Alaska Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 do not apply to              
litigation filed by prisoners.  But a corresponding exemption from a           
similar provision in a separate court rule (Alaska Rule of Civil               
Procedure 26) was inadvertently not included in the earlier bill.  This        
bill repairs that omission.                                                    
                                                                               
The rationale for automatic disclosure--reducing the cost and duration         
of litigation by cooperative discovery--does not readily apply in most         
litigation brought by prisoners.  Prisoners are generally not willing          
or able to participate in discovery and, as a result, the state is             
obliged to furnish full information while prisoners furnish no                 
information to the state.  This is expensive and unnecessary,                  
especially in litigation that is often without merit.