Opinions

Legislative majority targets Constitution with rules change restricting press

I wonder sometimes if Alaska Dispatch News political reporter Nathaniel Herz has to remind himself he's not writing for the satirical news website "The Onion" when he's writing about the Alaska state Legislature.

Again, last week, the GOP leadership made a move that would seem to imply that they are either incognizant or think they are immune from the U.S. Constitution, Alaska Constitution, federal and state laws, their own rules, or just standard public decorum.

As Herz reported, Rep. Craig Johnson announced last week that "journalists covering the special session of the Alaska Legislature later this month will have their credentials automatically revoked if they try to take photographs anywhere on the Capitol grounds during a medical emergency." Herz noted concerns from some that the rule may be unconstitutional.

The rule expansion stems from an incident during the previous legislative session in Juneau when Rep. Ben Nageak sat down holding his chest in the middle of a House Floor speech. At the time, Nageak was reported to have had a low blood count and recovered quickly after a blood transfusion.

The conflict came when a television producer and a photographer, Jeremy Hsieh and Skip Gray, from "Gavel Alaska," had their press credentials revoked for doing their jobs -- attempting to document what had happened, within the rules they had been given.

The rules at the time stated that no photos or video could be taken on the House floor during a medical emergency -- which already may violate the First Amendment. Now lawmakers are extending that to anywhere on Capitol grounds.

In a statement in February during the original incident, Rep. Johnson didn't comment. However, Speaker Mike Chenault said, "This is still on state property." He continued, "Right or wrong, we've got a member that's having problems -- if you had an issue, you wouldn't want your picture all over the paper."

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Rep. Johnson now claims that Hsieh and Gray impeded medical staff from being able to help Rep. Nageak. However, from what I can find, he is the only one making that claim and nobody made that assertion at the time -- no legislators, no EMTs, nobody from the Juneau Fire Department, nobody.

Now, you might be surprised that Speaker Chenault is confused by the fact that state property isn't his personal property, and that he is entitled to make rash decisions about what happens with no oversight or review.

However, you might remember in April 2014 when then-House Majority Leader Lance Pruitt said, "This is our house, we will not let anyone taint our house." This was in response to Ed Flanagan -- Alaska labor commissioner and chairman of a group supporting an initiative that would have raised the minimum wage -- holding up a notebook with a dollar sign written inside. Chenault had previously said, "There's trouble in our house."

"Our house."

That's how the Republican majority thinks about the Legislature. It's their house. They ignore the rules, laws and Constitution; they've done it again and again to the detriment of the people, the media and the state. We are all held hostage by a legislative majority running rogue in the belief that political games can all be self-regulated and approved and nobody can do anything about it without the gavel or the power.

This may seem like a small issue. It's one of those stories you will glance at in the newspaper and say, "Oh, well, during an emergency, the emergency should come first" -- and that's true. Nobody is saying differently. However, the freedom of the press is an important staple in our Constitution for very important reason.

The press is often the most direct and sometimes the only conduit between Alaska's elected leaders and the Alaskans they represent. The more we, as Alaskans, allow them to erode the freedom of the press, the more we erode that conduit between Alaskans and our elected leaders doing the work of the people.

Herz's article quoted Al Cross, a former president of the Society of Professional Journalists, who said in a phone interview that Nageak's episode was "public business" happening on "public property."

Herz finishes with this very profound quote from Mr. Cross: "There shouldn't be any prior restraint on taking pictures," he said. "The real judgment comes when you decide what pictures to publish."

This Legislature needs to get on board with the First Amendment rights of the people they serve, and the fact that they are there to serve, not to play games.

Mike Dingman is a fifth-generation Alaskan born and raised in Anchorage. He is a former UAA student body president and has worked, studied and volunteered in Alaska politics since the late 1990s. Email him at michaeldingman@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com.

Mike Dingman

Mike Dingman is a fifth-generation Alaskan born and raised in Anchorage. He is a former UAA student body president and has worked, studied and volunteered in Alaska politics since the late '90s.

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