The
Summer/Fall 2011 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum features articles on immigrants in Alaska, VPSOs and violence against women cases, Alaska's Five-Year Prisoner Reentry Strategic Plan, and the PACE pilot project for probation violators. The 12-page issue includes the following articles:
The immigration of most foreign-born residents of Alaska has
occurred legally under established laws and regulations. However, the
picture of immigration in Alaska—both authorized and
unauthorized—differs in some details from the rest of the country as a
whole. According to census figures based on an average over the 5-year
period of 2005–2009, immigrants from Asian countries formed a greater
proportion of the foreign-born population than they did in the U.S.
overall. Over one-half of immigrants to Alaska came from Asia. In the
country as whole, immigrants from the Americas constitute over 55
percent of the foreign-born, with Mexico being by far the most common
country of origin. The article also discusses the increase in and
estimated number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. and Alaska, and
place of birth of and labor force participation of unauthorized
immigrants. Includes notes on data sources and a bibliography of
articles on immigration and noncitizens that have appeared in the
Alaska Justice Forum.
Although there has been increasing involvement by state and local
law enforcement, and more politicization of immigration issues at the
state and local level, the federal government still has primary
responsibility for enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws.
Despite relatively few cases, the adjudication of immigration cases in
Alaska has slowed dramatically over the last decade, as it has
elsewhere. This article also examines immigrant detention Alaska,
immigration court proceedings, and the lengthy time for an immigration
proceeding, and the enormous backlog of cases.
Probation Accountability and Certain Enforcement (PACE), based on
the Hawaii Court HOPE model, is a pilot project introduced in the
Anchorage Superior Court in July 2010. This article presents findings
and recommendations from a recent Alaska Judicial Council evaluation of
the project, which seeks to deal with probation violations quickly with
immediate imposition of a sanction.
The Five-year Prisoner Reentry Strategic Plan, 2011-2016, released
this year by the Alaska Prisoner Reentry Task Force, presents a
comprehensive overview of the issues surrounding successful prisoner
reentry in Alaska, and makes recommendations for implementation of the
plan. Includes a bibliography of resources on prisoner reentry and
justice reinvestment.
This article looks at a study of sexual assault (SA) and sexual
assault of a minor (SAM) cases reported to Alaska State Troopers in 2003
and 2004 when the first responder was a local paraprofessional police
officer— a Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO), Village Police Officer
(VPO), or Tribal Police Officer (TPO). The probability of a
case being referred to the Alaska Department of Law, of being accepted
for prosecution, and resulting in a conviction was greater in most
types of SA and SAM cases reported to the Alaska State Troopers when
paraprofessional police officers were involved as first responders. Past
studies have also demonstrated the positive impact of paraprofessional
police in rural Alaska. A brief description of the VPSO program and
current VPSO staffing is given. Includes a bibliography of articles on
Village Public Safety Officers (VPSOs) and paraprofessional police that
have appeared in the
Alaska Justice Forum and elsewhere.
Over 1.1 millions persons were employed full-time by state and
local law enforcement in the U.S. in 2008, according to the most recent
census of state and local law enforcement agencies from the Bureau of
Justice Statistics. Of that number, 765,000 were sworn personnel –
defined as those with general arrest powers. In 2008, Alaska had 1,298
sworn personnel in 50 state and local law enforcement agencies,
including 274 sworn officers of the Alaska State Troopers.
Marny Rivera, Justice Center faculty member, has been awarded tenure and been promoted to Associate Professor.
A bibliography of recent publications by Justice Center faculty.
