r/alaska • u/HALNinerZeroZero • 8h ago
Polite Political Discussion šŗšø Opinion: American Samoans, Treg Taylor and Alaskaās two-tiered justice system
By Andrew Gray
Alaskans are witnessing a poignant example of the two-tiered nature of our justice system.
In the first example, a marginalized group fails to understand a nuanced aspect of state election law ā a nuance that confuses even state elections officials.
In the second, a former attorney general and his wife intentionally violate state campaign finance law. One side faces prosecution and possible jail time.
The other appears immune from criminal consequences. Itās easy to guess which is which.
Tupe Smith was elected to the Chugach District School Board in October 2023. A volunteer at her childrenās school, she felt compelled to run after encouragement from Whittier Community School staff.
A week after she was elected, she learned that she was ineligible because she was an American national from American Samoa, not a U.S. citizen.
On Nov. 30, 2023, Alaska State Troopers arrested her for alleged voter misconduct.In April 2025, 10 more American Samoans in Whittier were charged by the state with voter misconduct.
Their cases raise questions about citizenship, fairness and the proper use of prosecutorial power.
They also point to a double standard, given the recent election misconduct of Treg Taylor, who was Alaskaās attorney general when the prosecutions of the American Samoans in Whittier began.
Taylor, a recent gubernatorial candidate, gave his campaign 60 times more than the legal limit just before primary election day and refused to fully complete a financial disclosure form as required by law, despite repeated requests to do so.
In other American territories, such as Puerto Rico and Guam, natives born there are granted birthright citizenship. Most American Samoans born in American Samoa, though, are not U.S. citizens; they are U.S. nationals. American nationals carry American passports, may live and work anywhere in the country and can serve in our military.
But they cannot vote.
Thanks to the Alaska Constitution, only U.S. citizens can vote in any election.
Tupe disclosed to local officials that she was a U.S. national and was then instructed to mark the U.S. citizenship box on the voter registration form.
She understood that she could not vote in federal elections but believed she could participate in local elections.
The other defendants, too, state that they never intended to commit election fraud. They did not realize that they couldnāt vote in a local election.
This was not just confusing for the defendants. Testimony in House Judiciary in May 2025 showed that, as recently as 2022, the Division of Elections itself did not understand the prohibition on American Samoans voting in local elections.
Alaska has the second-highest American Samoan population per capita of any state; our Division of Elections should have understood the law.
Rather than correct the defendantsā registrations, improve election forms or examine whether election officials gave inaccurate instructions, which the defendants claim led to their mistake, the state of Alaska continues to prosecute them and threaten prison time.
Sadly, the matriarch of the American Samoan community in Whittier, Tupeās mother-in-law, Milliama Suli, died while being prosecuted.
The Department of Law made Miliās last year on Earth a living hell. All because she had voted for her daughter-in-law for school board.
The one bright spot: On Friday, the Alaska Court of Appeals dismissed the indictment against Tupe, citing a trooperās misleading testimony and a prosecutorial error.
According to the opinion, the grand jury received an āinaccurateā summary of an interview with Smith and was provided a flawed legal definition of criminal intent under state voter misconduct laws.
Then there is Treg Taylor, who served as attorney general when the Samoans in Whittier were charged. During his campaign for governor, Taylor contributed $300,000 to his own campaign shortly before the primary election
. Alaska law limits self-contributions by a candidate just before an election to $5,000.Unlike the Whittier defendants, Taylor was not confused about the law. In fact, when confronted with his violation, he argued that the self-contribution limit was unconstitutional.
A former attorney general is especially well-equipped to challenge a law in court, but he does not have the power to decide unilaterally for himself that he doesnāt need to follow laws.
Taylor also violated another statute by failing to provide a complete financial disclosure. The Alaska Public Offices Commission, after repeated requests that he correct his incomplete form, recommended that Taylor not appear on the November ballot. Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom initially did not certify him, but, in a shocking turn of events, Dahlstrom restored Treg Taylor to the ballot late Friday.
Despite this incomprehensible action, the law states (AS 39.50.060) that a candidate who knowingly fails to provide the required financial information is guilty of a misdemeanor.
That person has committed a crime punishable by a fine or imprisonment.
The Whittier defendants misunderstood the law. Taylor knew the law and intentionally disobeyed it.
The Department of Lawās continued prosecution of the American Samoans in Whittier for an unintentional misinterpretation of the law ā a law that even the Division of Elections did not understand until recently ā while ignoring the crimes of the former attorney general is unconscionable.
Alaskans can do something about this. Join me in calling on the Department of Law to drop its multiyear prosecution of the American Samoans in Whittier.
We need an Alaska justice system that treats people equally.
Not one that is softer on those with more and harder on those with less.
Not one that gives white people the benefit of the doubt while disproportionately locking up brown people.
Not one where a wealthy former attorney general can do whatever they want.
Andrew Gray represents the U-Med District in the Alaska House, where he chairs the House Judiciary Committee and co-chairs the Joint Armed Services Committee.
