Judge orders Alaska Corrections Dept. to allow attorneys in-person visits with incarcerated clients regardless of vaccine status

Apr. 7—Attorneys must be allowed to visit clients in Alaska jails and prisons regardless of whether the inmates are vaccinated or not, an Anchorage Superior Court has judge has ruled.

The ruling means more Alaskans incarcerated without in-person legal advice — or opportunity for trial — for more than a year will finally get to see their lawyers.

Monday's order stems from a lawsuit filed at the end of January by a group of Alaska defense attorneys on behalf of their clients. The attorneys argued that continuing to ban lawyer-client visits deprived defendants of their constitutional right to counsel.

The Department of Corrections must open up attorney visits and can't deny lawyers access to facilities without good cause, Judge Una Gandbhir wrote.

"The lack of in-person visitation for unvaccinated clients has a demonstrable negative impact in the quality of advocacy of criminal defense lawyers," Gandbhir wrote.

With criminal trials expected to resume soon, any delay in allowing lawyers and clients to meet "might prove fatal to the liberty interests of countless currently incarcerated Alaskans," she wrote.

The DOC will comply, wrote spokeswoman Sarah Gallagher. Face masks will be required, appointments must be scheduled in advance and attorneys will face health and temperature screenings at the door, Gallagher said.

In March 2020, the Alaska Department of Corrections halted all in-person visits at jails and prisons around the state in hopes of keeping the coronavirus out of vulnerable jails and prisons.

Despite the total lockdown, the virus spread within many Alaska institutions: At Goose Creek Correctional Center, nearly every inmate ultimately contracted COVID-19.

In mid-March 2021, with vaccines becoming widely available across the state, the DOC reopened attorney visitation — but only for inmates who had completed vaccination.

People incarcerated in Alaska are offered vaccines but are not required to get the shots.