By Meredith Kelly
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – The ACLU has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC), detailing what it calls “inadequate, dangerous, and inhumane” healthcare conditions for incarcerated Alaskans.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court by the ACLU of Alaska in partnership with the ACLU’s National Prison Project. According to the ACLU, the DOC has violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of incarcerated individuals, resulting in “needless suffering, decline, and death.” The DOC’s dental, mental health, and medical care systems have reportedly been under scrutiny for years and remain in “critical need” of reform.
Megan Edge, Director of the ACLU of Alaska’s Prison Project, said that thousands of incarcerated people—entirely dependent on the DOC for medical care—are subjected to substandard and delayed treatment. The ACLU claims that state officials have long been aware of these systemic failures but have not acted to fix them.
Edge emphasized that the only path forward is judicial intervention. “To prevent further casualties,” she said, “the courts must mandate an overhaul of DOC’s medical processes,” according to the ACLU.
The lawsuit also criticizes the state’s spending priorities. The ACLU reports that Governor Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget includes $481 million for DOC operations. The department estimates that it spends $202 per day per incarcerated person on healthcare, excluding emergency care, end-of-life treatment, and chronic illnesses. Despite this sizable budget, the ACLU argues that healthcare services remain dangerously inadequate.
Nancy Rosenbloom, Senior Litigation Advisor at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, described Alaska’s prison healthcare system as among the worst in the country. She alleged that incarcerated Alaskans’ constitutional rights are being violated by the DOC’s failure to provide basic medical care.
The ACLU cited several harrowing examples from the lawsuit. In one case from July 2023, a diabetic woman in custody fell into a coma and was unresponsive after falling from her bed. She remained in the ICU for six days. Before the incident, she had repeatedly complained of severe back pain but was only diagnosed with muscle spasms. The ACLU claims her unchecked blood sugar levels led to debilitating pain that affected her ability to walk, eat, or use the restroom.
Another person incarcerated under DOC supervision reportedly developed pre-stage colon cancer due to untreated ulcerative colitis during a prior incarceration. In a separate case, a man with cataracts went without surgery or corrective lenses, leading to significant vision loss. According to the ACLU, the DOC’s failure to act has left him nearly blind and struggling with basic mobility and hygiene.
In yet another case, a man who reported three fractured teeth and a knocked-out tooth in September 2021 did not receive dental care for four months. By that time, severe decay had set in. The man was given sutures for lacerations caused by broken teeth and had two teeth extracted. The ACLU says his condition continued to deteriorate under the DOC’s “extraction-only” dental policy, which ultimately resulted in the loss of more teeth.
