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23 Alaska B. Rag 1 (1999)

handle is hein.barjournals/askabar0023 and id is 1 raw text is: VOLUME 23, NO. I rli4 W/J. rb Compton retires from the Alaska Supreme Court By PETER VAN TUrw After 18 year on the Alaska Su- preme Court, Justice Allen T. Compten retired In November. This long tenure on Alaska's highest court marked the culmination, at least to date, ofa career dedicated to the public interest, Justice Compton - or simply Allen as he Is almost immedialely known to most anyone whohasever methim-leavesAlaska a morejust and free society due to his time on the bench. It is appropriate at times like those, when those who have given so much of themselves to the common good move on to other pursuits, that we take a few mo- ments to reflect upon and celebrate Allen Compton their legacy. Governor Jay l1ammond ap- reproduction rights are fundamen. pointed Allen Compton to the Supe to l, are encompassedwithin the right rior Court in 1976 and then to the topnvacy expressed in Article 1. 122 Supreme • ofthe Alaska ConstttuUoq, and t1s. Court In thil fundamental right Ineludee the I1980. lier. right to an abortion. This protection a;centy re- ,of individual privacy rights follows. fmarked that and expands upon the tradition w- a the only tablished on the Alaska Supreme Sb e a r d d Court by Justices Rabinowitz and chief aleu- Boochever. tive officer Many in the Alaska legal commu- this state has ever had, it was, I nity consider this to be Allen's most think, appropriate that I appointed admirabledeclsion. 'Valley Hospital the only bearded Supreme Court eloquently and forcefully recognizes Justice this state hod ever had. In a not only the importance ofprivacy in field that is seen as artificial, what is the context of abortion, but also the more natural than a board? We are corresponding duty ofa quasi-publie all rightly concerned that our judi- institution to afimnatively accom. claryreflectAlaskanvalues. Whatis modate its exercise, said long-time more archetypically Alaskan than a Alaska lawyer Robert Waptaff. bearded sourdoughr Another way to examine what Reflecting on Allen's pending re- made Allen so different from his fel. tirement, Governor Ilammond said low Jurists is to review his dissents, that he 'made both appointments on the theory that when Justice based on Allen's demonstrated Intel- Compten Is in disagreementwith the ligence, legal training, and charac- court, thequalltiesthatdifferentiate ter. lie continued to demonstrate him are highlighted. Although quite these characteristics during his long obviously Justice Compton brought and distinguished time on the bench, his sense of reality to his majority Allen Compton has brought a mea. end concurring opinions, It is in the sure of common sense to a field that dissents that we sea it most vividly. can sometimes become lost In arcane From a long tenure on the bench and or abstract principles. a tell pile of dissente, two aspects of It is not necessarily appropriate his approach to the law are particu. to compliment Allen for characteris- larly noteworthy: Judicial restraint tics that we expect in every judge or and the need for realism. justice. To any that he is intelligent, Justice Compten, from his carl- hard working, honest, and fair, while est time as a memberofthe Supreme unquestionably true, is simply to say Court, dissented on the basis that he possesses the baseline skills we the majority, right or wrong, should expect or even demand in our judi- not be issuing an opinion en the isus ciary. Rather, it is better to focus on at all. See Vest v. F re Nat. BanA of the philosophy, skills and tempera. Falrbanks, 659 P.2d 1233, 1235 ment that separated him from other (Alaska 1983) ('1 do not believe... members ofthe profession, that made that it Is appropriate for the court to him exceptions. decide this issus'). Justice Compten Allen's legal opinions reflect a hasoljectedtothscourtunneceeaar. strong concern for the rights of the ily reaching constituional Issues. individual - following in many ways State v. Hazelwood, 946 P.2d 875, the strong emphasis in our State on 886 n.2 (Alaska 1997); State u. individual liberty. For example, his Harelwood, 866 P.2d 827, 834 n.2 opinloninValleylio pitalAss'n, Ina (Alaska 1993); Abod P. Leasu of v. Mat-Su Coalition for Choice, 948 . P.2d 963 (Alaska 1997), held that Contlnud on page i Are our courts unfriendly to Alaska's Natives? 8V JAWS VouwrOw t is apparent that Alaska State Courts are unfriendly forums for Alaska Natives. Native people have many rights under tribal and federal law that state courts frown upon. State courts are creatures of the Alaska Constitution, an instru- ment created by white settlers con- taining scant mention of Native rights. Federal courts are more pro- tective of Indian rights. Attorneys representing Natives claiming rights PAN , m1 P. 1 u tmkesm iIs under federal law should consider bringing the case in federal court. Similarly, if your Native client is sued In state court on a federal cause of action, consider removing the case to federal court. This is no small matter. There are several hundred sovereign Native tribes in Alaska possessing the Im- munities and privileges available to other federally acknowledged Indian tribes by virtue or their status as Indian tribes. 58 Fed. Reg. 54,364 Continued on page 6 uJs. Piup P Pel, f 641 Amw ~t e Inside: %kK eADMUATY JOIML 1GVE TO ALR - E All COUITS * l-O REVIE:W $3.00 JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1999

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