Alaska nied Permanent Fund divinds to gay upl spe urt lgs - Alaska Public Media

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A judge’s lg Sunday mak Alaska the latt state where gay and lbian upl n legally marry. * does alaska allow gay marriage *

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Cizens, not the urts, should ci whether the fn of marriage clus same-sex upl, the state of Alaska said urt papers filed Friday. The state is fendg feral urt an amendment to Alaska's nstutn that bans gay marriage. In May, five same-sex upl — four married outsi of Alaska and one unmarried uple — sued to overturn the ban approved by voters 1998, sayg vlat their rights to due procs and equal protectn unr the U.S. Constutn. In a filg Friday, attorneys for the state said cizens have a fundamental right to ci whether to make chang to important stutns through the mocratic procs. "The State of Alaska do not dispute that the rints of dividual stat have the right to change their marriage laws. ... However, the State urg that rints of Alaska posss the same fundamental right to reta the tradnal fn of marriage. This basic premise of mocratic ernment should not be urped by the judiciary absent pellg circumstanc which the State rpectfully urg are not prent this se," the filg stat. The attorneys said that allowg Alaska rints to ci whether to keep the tradnal fn of marriage, of beg between one man and one woman, "serv the important ernmental terts of supportg the mocratic form of ernment." The attorneys said there is no fundamental right to same-sex marriage unr the due-procs clse of the U.S. Constutn. The state also argu that Alaska laws prohibg regnn of same-sex marriag om other stat or untri do not vlate the platiffs' nstutnal rights. The state said recent urt cisns across the untry support of gay marriage don't pot to a foregone ncln this se but to terventn by some urts to a law-makg procs that should be rerved for the people. Oral arguments the se have been set for next month. * does alaska allow gay marriage *

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska wrongly nied some same-sex spo benefs for years by claimg their unns were not regnized even after urts stck down gay marriage bans, urt documents obtaed by The Associated Prs show. The agency that term eligibily for a yearly oil wealth check paid to nearly all Alaska rints nied a payout for same-sex spo or pennts of ary members statned other stat for five years after a feral urt validated Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage 2014, the documents show. The practice also persisted after the Supreme Court legalized the unns natnwi 2015. In one email om July 2019, a same-sex spoe livg out of state wh his ary hband was nied a check bee “unfortunately the state of Alaska don’t regnize same sex marriage yet,” employee Marissa Requa wrote to a lleague, endg the sentence wh a owng face emoji. The practice by the Permanent Fund Divind Divisn ntued until several people qutned or appealed beg nied checks 2019. Denali Smh, who was nied benefs, sued the state that November, seekg an orr clarg that Alaska officials vlated the feral urt lg and Smh’s nstutnal rights to equal protectn and due procs. Smh and the state settled the lawsu Wednday. Alaska admted nyg benefs to same-sex ary spo and pennts for five years vlatn of a permanent junctn put place by the 2014 U.S. District Court cisn. The state also vowed to no longer e the outdated state law, stop nyg ary spo and pennts oil checks gog forward and update enforcement regulatns. There were no fancial terms. In Alaska, the oil wealth check is seen as an entlement that people e to buy thgs like new TVs or snowmobil, fund llege savgs acunts or, ral Alaska, pay for high heatg and food sts. The payouts e om a fund seed wh oil money. Last year, nearly every rint received $992. The year before, the amount was $1,606. About 800 pag of emails provid by the state for the lawsu show a clear misunrstandg or outright disregard of the 2014 precent and reluctance to reach out to the attorney general’s office for guidance. The emails, redacted of intifyg rmatn about oil check applints, show as late as 2019, divisn employe were claimg Alaska do not regnize same-sex marriag, often potg to an outdated and unenforceable sectn of state law still on the books as jtifitn. “It seems like none of them all the way up to the director unrstood that this was a permanent junctn, meang if you enforce the law after this date, you’re vlatn of a urt orr and you’re vlatg people’s rights,” said Anchorage attorney Cal Shortell, one of the lawyers who succsfully sued to overturn the state’s ban on gay marriage and later filed the lawsu on behalf of Smh. The state Department of Law released a statement sayg the unenforceable law will rema part of the state’s statut until lawmakers remove . “As for the applitn of that law which led to the recently settled lawsu, that policy has been rrected by the Department of Revenue,” the statement said. It add that ’s ensurg every eligible Alaskan receiv an oil check as the ernor directed after hearg about the issue 2019. The emails show employe disregard a 2017 orr om a puty revenue missner to stop nyg checks to same-sex spo, that efforts were ma to keep rrect language about the state not regnizg gay marriage s lerature and that s puter system was programmed to reference the unenforceable state statute form nial letters. Smh, who acpanied her wife out of state, was nied an oil wealth fund check 2019. Shortell also reprented another woman whose wife was statned out of state, and the woman and the uple’s two children were nied benefs. Divisn staff listed about 40 people who were nied. Four were marked for further review, but the emails don’t reference what me of those applitns. “Based on their ignorance of and disregard for the law throughout the disclosur, I do not tst their analysis was rrect,” Shortell said, addg that the number of people nied benefs uld be higher. The emails show there was nfn among state employe early on about how to handle the same-sex partners of ary members. On March 9, 2015, Kimberly Lane, the divisn’s eligibily manager, asked appeals manager Robert Pearson for clarifitn. Pearson wr back, “1st thought – punt to AG,” followed by a sey face. “I don’t thk the law has been officially stck down, as yet, but I uld be wrong,” he ntued. “So, 2nd thought, let’s wa until the Supreme Court cisn and then we won’t have to take anythg back that we’ve already done.” On March 9, 2017, then-puty revenue missner Jerry Burt sent top staff at the divisn an email sayg the urt cisns 2014 and 2015 validated all opposg laws at the state or lol level. Yet the practice ntued for another 2 1/2 years. An applint who had been nied a check plaed to their lawmaker 2019, and the issue was lated to Anne Wke, then the divisn’s director who had received the 2017 directive to regnize same-sex marriag. “I seem to rell possible guidance om the prr admistratn statg that we COULD allow them,” Wke wrote Sept. 23, 2019, notg that she’d check, but “if they were nied there is law statg that we don’t regnize same sex marriage.” * does alaska allow gay marriage *

* does alaska allow gay marriage *