Legislature(1993 - 1994)
01/20/1993 01:45 PM Senate JUD
Audio | Topic |
---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE January 20, 1993 1:45 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Robin Taylor, Chairman Senator Rick Halford, Vice-Chairman Senator George Jacko Senator Suzanne Little MEMBERS ABSENT Senator Dave Donley COMMITTEE CALENDAR OVERVIEWS: - Bruce Botelho (Department of Law) - Arthur Snowden (Alaska Court System) PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION NONE WITNESS REGISTER Bruce M. Botelho Deputy Attorney General P.O. Box 110300 Juneau, AK 99811-0300 Arthur H. Snowden, II Administrative Director 303 K Street Anchorage, Alaska 99501-2084 Dean Guaneli, Chief Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division Department of Law P.O. Box 110300 Juneau, Alaska 99811-0300 Deborah E. Behr Assistant Attorney General General Civil Section Department of Law P.O. Box 110300 Juneau, Alaska 99811-0300 ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 93-2, SIDE A Number 001 Chairman Robin Taylor called the Judiciary Committee meeting to order at 1:45 p.m. (Due to a malfunction in the taping process, the beginning of the minutes have been reconstructed from a letter written by CHARLES CHRISTENSEN, Staff Counsel for the Alaska Court System and from the log notes.) ARTHUR SNOWDEN reviewed the letter from the Alaska Court System requesting the Judiciary Committee to reintroduce the following bills on behalf of the supreme court. The first bill was CSHB 93 (HES) relating to the findings and recommendations of a neutral mediator when awarding shared custody. (The following is quoted from the letter.) "During the Seventeenth Legislature, a bill containing CSHB 93 (HES) passed the House and died in the Senate Rules Committee. The statutory change which it proposed was first made in the June, 1990 report by the Task Force on Mediation. This task force was formed by Chief Justice Matthews in December, 1988 in response to an instruction from the Fifteenth Legislature. Currently, AS 25.20.090 reads in pertinent part: In determining whether to award shared custody of a child the court shall consider .... (7) any findings and recommendations of a neutral mediator; After study, the task force concluded that this statute as written endangers the mediation process and runs contrary to the majority view that mediation communications be kept confidential. The majority view also does not envision a mediator making a recommendation about the resolution of a dispute. To correct this problem, CSHB 93 (HES) proposed deleting from the statute the requirement that the findings and recommendations of a neutral mediator be considered by the court." The second bill, HB 172, related to the preparation of the jury list. (The following is quoted from the letter.) "This bill passed the House 34 - 0, and died in the Senate Judiciary Committee. At the present time, AS 09.20.050 instructs the administrative director to prepare a list of persons qualified for jury service by March 15 of each year. It is compiled from the list of applicants for the permanent fund dividend, which must be submitted by the Department of Revenue to the court system by the preceding January 15. Putting the jury year on a calendar year basis would allow more efficient administration. Accordingly, HB 171 proposed requiring the administration director to prepare the jury list by November 30, from a list submitted by the Department of Revenue no later than September 30." (Copies of the proposed bills were included with the letter from the Alaska Court System.) There ensued a discussion by the committee members about juvenile matters, minor offenses, presumptive challenges, and the position of the court in these matters. (At #222 the taping machine became operable.) Number 222 In discussing DWI'S, SENATOR HALFORD asked MR. SNOWDEN what would happen if the judge was to impose a three day minimum jail term or a fine of $5 thousand in cash, with nothing suspended. SENATOR HALFORD suggested the judge use which ever had the maximum deterrent value and asked MR. SNOWDEN what would happen with his suggestion. MR. SNOWDEN thought the legislators would have to make some provisions for indigence and income base. He suggested a sliding scale, but he explained the judges were too busy to make decisions on sliding scales. MR. SNOWDEN said many fines were not collectable anyway, and that using hard beds for DWI'S was a waste of money. SENATOR HALFORD suggested that the second DWI offense might be a super lien on the vehicle driven, and MR. SNOWDEN countered that many vehicles were owned by the bank. He claimed that Alaska was the most violent state in the nation with the combination of alcohol, guns, and dangerous roads, and incarcerated a larger percentage of our population than any other state. MR. SNOWDEN said he would welcome any legislation that would break the cycle of violence and praised some of SENATOR HALFORD'S ideas. They agreed the problem might be worse than Washington, D.C. Number 265 With his court system background, SENATOR TAYLOR said there needed to be some draconian measures in sentencing to stop the flood of violence, and he was going to be looking for alternatives such as the use of antabuse in sentencing for crimes involving alcohol. MR. SNOWDEN said Alaska was number 1 in rape and the number of domestic violence crimes were going through the ceiling. He suggested the committee look at mandated hearings which increased the number of hearings for each case, expanding the case load and the costs. Next to speak was BRUCE BOTELHO, Deputy Attorney General. He introduced DEAN GUANELI, Director of the Criminal Division, and DEBORAH BEHR, Assistant Attorney General and Legislative Liaison. Number 294 MR. BOTELHO brought regrets from ATTORNEY GENERAL COLE because he was unable to attend. He said that MR. GUANELI would be outlining the crime package of legislation from the Department of Law. MR. BOTELHO, before turning the meeting over to MR. GUANELI, spoke to the supplemental appropriations legislation for the Department of Law, and he discussed the scope of the legislation: - $400,000 for the criminal division to prevent the lay-off of prosecutors, caused by budget cuts last year. - A supplemental for Oil and Gas for $8.8 million, in addition to the $10.5 million in the original appropriation. - $280 thousand for outside counsel for the State/Federal Relations office, staffed by JOHN KATZ in Washington, D.C., in a case dealing with the Federal Communications Commission and our Interstate Communications. He gave an overview of the case which has lingered for 9 years, and said he would be presenting a separate judgement's bill for about $87 thousand. - MR. BOTELHO explained there was $1.3 million owed in judgement against the state in the reapportionment case, and he described the imperatives of the judgement. He then turned the meeting over to MR. GUANELI. Number 358 MR. GUANELI explained the attorney general had personally directed the Department of Law to draft four pieces of legislation currently under consideration by the governor for introduction. The first two pieces of legislation are conspiracy and forfeiture in drug cases, and the last two are wiretapping legislation and juvenile waiver, prosecuting juveniles in adult court for murder offenses. These last two are new pieces of legislation. MR. GUANELI discussed the reasons for the crime package. When asked by SENATOR TAYLOR when the bills would be available, MR. GUANELI explained the time sequence. SENATOR LITTLE asked for a description of the conspiracy bill, and MR. GUANELI gave her an overview on the legislation, which included murder, kidnapping, and serious felony drug offenses using joint concerted action. Number 403 SENATOR LITTLE questioned the wiretapping, and MR. GUANELI explained the application and limitations of the legislation. He referred to the federal wiretapping legislation in relation to what must be included in state legislation, particularly to protect individual rights. MR. GUANELI explained why wiretapping was an expensive proposition - but an important tool in law enforcement. SENATOR TAYLOR noted the innovations used in New South Wales, Australia where world wide wire tapping was employed for drug investigations. Number 455 SENATOR TAYLOR invited DEBORAH BEHR to testify on the Civil Division legislation for the session. She reviewed the priorities which included interest rates on judgments which need to be updated in statute. She said the legislation would work for all private and public litigants equally and would parallel what is being done in federal courts now. In answer to questions from SENATOR TAYLOR, she explained the market rate and how the judge would use the information in the judgments. MS BEHR reviewed the second bill which has been recommended by the Uniform Law Commissioners, and she added she was a Uniform Law Commissioner. She explained how it would update the Uniform Commercial Codes allowing for more predictability in commercial transactions across state lines. Number 492 MS BEHR said the Civil Division was going to recommend two bills to change 4(A) of the Commercial Code to deal with electronic transfers in banking. A mega-bill would also be introduced to improve leasing, negotiable instruments, and bulk sales. MS BEHR explained it was being introduce in both houses and was supported by the attorney general. The last bill she discussed with the committee would address charities and mail order fraud in answer to many complaints about these subjects. She outlined the protection built into the bill to prevent fraud, and said she was working with REPRESENTATIVE LARSON on the legislation. SENATOR LITTLE questioned whether the banking industry was in agreement with the interest rate judgments, and MS BEHR said the judgments would move across all private and public interests. She explained how the banking community would benefit from the legislation. SENATOR LITTLE questioned the electronic banking in the same manner, and MS BEHR said there had been no concerns expressed at this time. She also explained that Alaska was behind other states in this banking procedure. SENATOR TAYLOR suggested some of his ideas for calculating the judgement interest with the use of a floating interest rate to be established at a yearly rate at a specific time. MR. BOTELHO asked SENATOR TAYLOR if he envisioned a particular body, such as the supreme court, to set the rate, and they discussed possible constitutional conflict and separation of powers with the legislature. SENATOR TAYLOR suggested basing the rate on the Consumer Price Index. MR. BOTELHO concluded the presentation, and SENATOR TAYLOR thanked the participants. There being no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at 2:35 p.m.
Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
---|