The ACLU of Alaska sued the state Department of Corrections on Thursday, accusing it of denying some incarcerated people access to transitional programs by improperly interpreting their release dates.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four plaintiffs who were granted discretionary parole, which moved up their release dates. It says the men have been denied access to certain programs intended to facilitate transition back into society because the department has refused to recognize those new dates for purposes of calculating eligibility.
The lawsuit asks a judge to order that the men and others in similar circumstances “be meaningfully considered for minimum-custody classification, furlough, and electronic monitoring when they apply for such programs, using their discretionary parole date to determine their eligibility.”
It names as defendants Corrections Commissioner Jen Winkelman and the Department of Corrections. Patty Sullivan, a state Department of Law spokeswoman, said Thursday afternoon that the office had yet not been served with the complaint.
“Once we have received and evaluated the complaint we will file an answer in the time allowed by the court rules,” Sullivan said by email.