The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month on a Washington State kidnapping case will likely change sentencing guidelines for as many as a dozen states, including Alaska. In Blakely v. Washington, the original judge nearly doubled the presumptive sentence beyond the maximum specified by state sentencing guidelines because of what the judge thought was “deliberate cruelty” by the defendant. A majority of Supreme Court justices determined that such a sentence violated Ralph Blakely’s sixth amendment right to a jury trial.
Federal funding for public media is at risk.
The House of Representatives voted to eliminate already-approved funding for public media. This bill, now headed to the Senate, will have a devastating impact on public media in Alaska. Make your voice heard before it’s too late.
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