03/21/2022 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

                    ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE                                                                                  
               HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE                                                                             
                         March 21, 2022                                                                                         
                           1:13 p.m.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MEMBERS PRESENT                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
Representative Matt Claman, Chair                                                                                               
Representative Liz Snyder, Vice Chair                                                                                           
Representative Harriet Drummond                                                                                                 
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins                                                                                          
Representative David Eastman                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MEMBERS ABSENT                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Representative Christopher Kurka                                                                                                
Representative Sarah Vance                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
COMMITTEE CALENDAR                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
PRESENTATION(S):  BELLVILLE V. DUNLEAVY                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     - HEARD                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
No previous action to record                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
WITNESS REGISTER                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
RICHARD FRANKEL, Professor of Law                                                                                               
Thomas R. Kline School of Law                                                                                                   
Drexel University                                                                                                               
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania                                                                                                      
POSITION STATEMENT:  Presented on the Bellville v. Dunleavy                                                                 
lawsuit.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
ACTION NARRATIVE                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:13:08 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MATT  CLAMAN called the House  Judiciary Standing Committee                                                             
meeting  to order  at  1:13 p.m.    Representatives Drummond  and                                                               
Claman  were  present at  the  call  to order.    Representatives                                                               
Snyder, Kreiss-Tomkins,  and Eastman  arrived as the  meeting was                                                               
in progress.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
^PRESENTATION(S):  Bellville v. Dunleavy                                                                                        
            PRESENTATION(S):  Bellville v. Dunleavy                                                                         
                                                                                                                              
1:13:50 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR CLAMAN announced  that the only order of  business would be                                                               
a presentation on the Bellville v. Dunleavy court case.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:14:20 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
RICHARD  FRANKEL, Professor  of Law,  Thomas R.  Kline School  of                                                               
Law,  Drexel  University,  provided the  background  and  context                                                               
around  the federal  civil  rights statute,  Title  42 USC  1983,                                                               
which formed the basis for  the lawsuit Bellville v. Dunleavy 566                                                             
F. Supp  3d 969-2022.   He stated  that Section 1983,  enacted in                                                               
1871, allows  lawsuits against  state officials    in  both their                                                               
official and  individual capacity  - when they  violate someone's                                                               
federal  constitutional or  statutory rights.   The  goal of  the                                                               
statute is to compensate victims  and deter misconduct.  The U.S.                                                               
Supreme Court and  the lower federal courts  developed a doctrine                                                               
around  the rights  of public  employees not  to be  dismissed or                                                               
face  adverse-employment actions  on account  of their  speech or                                                               
political  views.    He  pointed out  that  Section  1983  allows                                                               
plaintiffs  to seek  injunctive relief  and damages  relief.   He                                                               
stated that  one of the  two immunities common to  damages claims                                                               
is in the  Eleventh Amendment, which provides  under Section 1983                                                               
that state officials sued in  their individual capacity may still                                                               
be protected under  the qualified immunity doctrine.   He advised                                                               
that this  has become controversial  in recent years,  unless the                                                               
actions violated  clearly established law.   He addressed several                                                               
unique aspects of  the case, such as the  summary judgment, where                                                               
Judge John W. Sedwick held that,  as a condition of keeping their                                                               
jobs,  it was  a  violation  of the  First  Amendment to  require                                                               
nonpolicy-making   employees   to    signal   commitment   to   a                                                               
supervisor's political views.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
1:28:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  FRANKEL,  in  response  to  questions  from  the  committee,                                                               
surmised that in this case  the plaintiffs could have sought both                                                               
damages  and injunctive  relief.   He explained  that, under  the                                                               
Eleventh  Amendment, the  state  was immune  from damages  relief                                                               
unless sovereign immunity was waived,  but it was not immune from                                                               
injunctive  relief.   He stated  that the  plaintiffs could  seek                                                               
damages  separately for  compensation  from  state employees,  as                                                               
long  as  the state  employees  were  not entitled  to  qualified                                                               
immunity.    However,  the First  Amendment  political  patronage                                                               
doctrine would not  apply to policy making officials  in the same                                                               
way.  He  cited that in Bakalar  v. Dunleavy 580 F.  Supp 3d 677-                                                             
2022, the court ruled that  the governor should receive qualified                                                               
immunity  for the  decision  to fire  Ms.  Bakalar, an  attorney,                                                               
because clear case law had not  been established.  In contrast to                                                               
this  case, the  two  plaintiffs in  Bellville  v. Dunleavy  were                                                             
clinicians who  were not enacting  government policy.   He stated                                                               
that, overall,  Section 1983 claims against  governors are common                                                               
compared to  other types  of defendants.   He discussed  the work                                                               
done by  his legal  clinic and the  strategies used  to determine                                                               
whether to bring a claim.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:57:12 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ADJOURNMENT                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
There being no  further business before the  committee, the House                                                               
Judiciary Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 1:57 p.m.