With regard to Alaska’s high death rates that are linked to overdoses of drugs, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is seeking tougher penalties in the criminal justice system for those who manufacture or distribute controlled substances that lead to death. In the new law the prosecutors will be able to indict drug dealers and drug makers linked to death with second degree murder, subjecting criminal defendants to lengthy sentences, and removing early release.
Many family members of people who died of poisoning from substances are in favor of the bill. However The ACLU of Alaska has raised questions about the effectiveness of the legislation and its potential to harm security for the general public.
On March 27 The House Judiciary Committee approved one version of the bill, House Bill 66 and then sent it on to finance. On Friday it was announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee held its version, Senate Bill 64 to further study.
Also known as drug-induced murder laws, several states have enacted similar laws. But those who oppose the laws argue that more severe sentences aren’t good discouragements for dealers and manufacturers they could even deter relatives and friends from calling 911 in the event of an overdose due to the fear of being taken into custody.
The current Alaska state law allows manslaughter in cases of drug-related deaths. The need for increased penalties comes as the state struggles with an increase in overdose deaths, which has left families devastated by the loss of a loved one and a halt to the overdose epidemic.
In 2021, Alaskans lost 253 lives of a drug-related overdose. This was which is an increase of 74% over the previous year as per the Alaska Department of Health. The data released from the Department in July of 2022 reveal that overdose deaths have increased each year since the year 2018, driven largely by methamphetamine and fentanyl.
“That’s something that requires the attention of those in charge of Alaska,” Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a March. 22 hearing.
Alaska law allows for the charge of manslaughter when someone suspects they have been engaged in an act of violence, and somebody dies as a consequence of their conduct.
A higher penalty for second-degree murder could result in a more lengthy minimum sentence of 20 years instead of 4 to seven years and could lead to the possibility of a life sentence.
“It permits the government to prosecute who distribute this poisonous substance to the public more vigorously,” Skidmore said as he introduced the bill.
“Until there are all of the resources we have to use on this issue, they’re likely continue to murder Alaskans,” said Sandy Snodgrass her son, Robert Bruce Snodgrass 22, passed away in 2021 due to poisoning with fentanyl.
“This legislation, I believe can be one tool that could be utilized in the prosecution process to negotiate with low-level drugs dealers” She told the committee.
Snodgrass stated that she had hoped the law could be used to target drug trafficking groups, but not relatives and friends of deceased people who could be suffering from addiction or abuse of substances.
Snodrass was not the only one to call on lawmakers to adopt the bill.
The son of Stacy Eisert, Jason 41, teacher at a High school English instructor, passed away of fentanyl poisoning, in 2021.
“My Son’s murder was a case of murder by those who were knowingly supplying or manufacturing controlled substances to Jason. There’s not a sentence in prison for these criminals that could be comparable to the prison sentence I’ve been through every single all day long,” Eisert said during her testimony before members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Every drug dealer is aware that fentanyl can be in the drug. Therefore, I ask you to support this proposition,” said Karen Malcolm Smith who spoke after Eisert. “Because we’re losing generations,” she said,
In 2017 , Smith’s son, David Dillon, 25, passed away from an overdose.
Skidmore stated that homicides caused by drugs are difficult to prosecute because it requires proof that the substance was the directly causing factor in the death. Prosecutors should also be able connect the drugs to the specific people who created or provided the drugs.
“Our capacity to prosecute those cases is extremely, very restricted,” Skidmore said during the hearing. “I’m not seeking to alter the difficulties we present to you. The only thing the bill asks for you to accomplish is provide a more severe punishment to be imposed on those who commit the same behavior.”
In a letter against Senate Bill 64, ACLU of Alaska Advocacy Directory Michael Garvey requested lawmakers to consider the bipartisan U.S. Commission on the Combating of Synthetic Opioid Trafficking. has not recommended any new or expanded sentences.
The law “is much more likely to affect individuals who have issues with addiction and those in need of help than dealers in drugs, and could hinder people from seeking medical help. Eighty percent of the people who are imprisoned in Alaska are suffering from a substance abuse disorder. The bill would make the issue worse,” wrote Garvey, who also complained about the demise the concept of “good times,” which he said will discourage rehabilitation.
Good time can be a route towards early release if you follow the rules and participating in mandatory actions during the time of incarceration. In Alaska it is possible to make defendants eligible to receive up to one-third off their prison sentence.
A group called Fair and Just Prosecution, an association of elected prosecutors who focus on reforming justice as well as apprehension of these prosecutions to be unjust. “These prosecutions violate Good Samaritan laws, potentially increase the likelihood of deaths from overdose as well as exacerbate racial inequities and use up limited police and justice services,” the group wrote in a recent study on Prosecutions for Homicides Induced by Drugs.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has not scheduled a date for the scheduled hearing of the legislation. Hearings for that House version before the Finance Committee hasn’t been scheduled.
The story first appeared in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
