Alaska News

Anchorage Daily News: "A state prosecutor who handles child pornography cases wants sexually explicit drawings of children -- even computer-generated cartoons -- to be as illegal as photographs of actual abuse."

Community Defense Counsel: Ferrick v. Alaska, No. A-9976, (Alaska App., Sept. 18, 2009) The Alaska Court of Appeals concluded that “the search warrant in Ferrick’s case was supported by probable cause . . . and that Alaska’s child pornography statute . . . is confined to the possession of pornography that was produced using real children [and] therefore does not violate the First Amendment as construed in Free Speech Coalition.”

KTUU (AP): "Anti-abortion advocates kicked off their campaign in Anchorage for an initiative that would require parental consent for minors to have an abortion."

Anchorage Daily News: "A lawsuit claiming attorneys have too much say in choosing Alaska judges has been filed in federal court and is set for a hearing in September. The lawsuit seeks an injunction stopping the Alaska Judicial Council from forwarding names to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Alaska Supreme Court. Justice Robert Eastaugh announced he will retire Nov. 2. The council took applications until May 28."

Anchorage Daily News: "The first opportunity for the Anchorage Assembly to override Mayor Dan Sullivan's veto of an ordinance banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation went by Tuesday night without action."

Jim Minnery, president of the Alaska Family Council, says Sullivan's decision was a good one, and says the law would do more harm than good because it would infringe on people's religious beliefs.

Anchorage Daily News: "Sullivan's deadline arrives today for deciding if he will veto the compromise ordinance passed by a 7-4 Assembly vote last week. If he does veto, the Assembly would need an eighth vote to make the ordinance become law over the mayor's opposition."

McClatchy: "By a 7-4 vote, the Anchorage Assembly Tuesday approved a compromise ordinance that bans discrimination in Anchorage on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."

LifeNews: "Parents of teenage girls in Alaska may want the right to know when their daughters are considering an abortion, but Alaska Planned Parenthood doesn't want them to get to vote on it. The abortion business has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a state ballot initiative that would allow parental notification before abortion."

KTVA.com: "A local teacher has teamed up with Planned Parenthood to sue and stop the voter initiative that aims to make it illegal for underage girls to get an abortion without parental consent."

One News Now: "Alaskans may have a chance to overturn a state Supreme Court decision on parental notice for a minor's abortion . . . Jim Minnery of the Alaska Family Council tells OneNewsNow that did not last."

WorldNetDaily reports: "Gov. Sarah Palin has signed a joint resolution declaring Alaska's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution – and now 36 other states have introduced similar resolutions as part of a growing resistance to the federal government."