April 19, 2023, 8 am protest to overturn SCO 1993, and its attack on the peoples' right to a grand jury

By Jessica Schultz Pleasant 

 

On Wednesday, April 19, 2023, protestors for overturning rule changes involving Criminal Rule 6 and 6.1 will be holding another protest at Alaskan courthouses. Supporters are asked to gather at the Anchorage Nesbitt Courthouse at 8:00 AM. In Juneau, the event will be at the Juneau Dimond Courthouse at 11 AM. ABC News has confirmed they will be covering the protest in Anchorage.

 

If you are attending the April 19^th protest, you can find handouts created to aid protestors answering any questions from passersby people and the media. This handout is available at alaskastateofcorruption.com. Alaska Grand Juror Association has additional information at alaskagrandjurorassociation.org.

 

David Haeg is an Alaskan that has been fighting for justice ever since he was wrongfully accused, charged, and abused by the State of Alaska. Due to active members of society and Haeg there is now a growing movement, a civil rights movement, to defend Alaskans’ rights to appeal directly to the grand jury.

 

For around 10 months, the grand jury of Kenai Peninsula has been investigating judicial criminal conduct that appears to have infested every branch of the Alaskan government. 

At the heart of it all is Marla Greenstein, the lead judicial investigator for the last 33 years, presiding over 8k judge investigations. Growing evidence of possible abuse of power led the grand jury to subpoena Greenstein. On que, the Alaska Supreme Court and the Rules Committee worked quickly to write a bill that would be enacted just days before Greenstein’s hearing to testify before the Kenai Peninsula grand jury.

 

As of today, despite the protective cover to prevent Greenstein’s testimony, the Kenai Peninsula grand jury has continued to investigate. News of the extension of this grand jury has many Alaskans feeling it is a good sign the grand jury is taking allegations seriously. Even more so, the subpoenaing of witnesses has grown, to include names of government employees never mentioned before.

 

Grand jury proponents argue Criminal Rule 6.1 is unconstitutional. In O’Leary v. Superior Court (1991), two out of five justices agreed it was unconstitutional and violated the “anti-suspension” clause of Alaska’s Constitution. Pursuant to O’Leary v Superior Court:

 

“This procedural rule [6.1] is not the least bit deferential to the “anti-suspension” clause. Indeed, it mocks it. If the language is not clear enough, the rejection of Delegate Buckalew’s objections to it persuade me that the constitutional debate has both addressed and answered the question whether the “anti-suspension” clause is to be construed restrictively or expansively. Only an expansive construction is consistent with its plain language and the debate and vote…. The grand jury, and not the courts, can choose matters on which it reports and recommends, and the manner in which to do so. Its constitutional power shall never be suspended by the overlay of cumbersome procedures which provide for private judicial adjudications and review…”

 

According to page 1328 of the Alaska Constitutional Convention transcript, when 55 delegates made no objection to the following: “The Grand Jury can be appealed to directly, which is an invaluable right to the citizen.”

 

According to the Alaska Grand Juror Association, Alaska’s Founding Fathers knew this day would come: : “The power of Grand Juries to inquire into the willful misconduct in office of public officers, and to find indictments in connection therewith, shall never be suspended. The Grand Jury is preserved, for all purposes, particularly for investigation of public officials.” In legalese, “shall" means a person “must" do what is ordered. 

 

Due to SCO 1993 passing, prosecutors have been given nearly absolute power of the grand jury process. This is inconsistent with the State of Alaska’s Constitution. To readers feeling this is not important to support, there may be a day when the reader will need the grand jury, and the support of the people fighting for it today. Please join your fellow Alaskans tomorrow to end SCO 1993.