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Alaska Department of Law Confirms Former AG Sullivan Never 'Fought to Pass' Stand Your Ground

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Today, Joe Miller called out Dan Sullivan for misleading Alaskans regarding his involvement in the Stand Your Ground legislation. Miller’s campaign recently submitted a Freedom of Information Act disclosure request to the Alaska Department of Law. The purpose of the request was to confirm or deny Attorney General Dan Sullivan’s claim that he “fought to pass . . . Stand Your Ground” legislation. According to the FOIA request, that claim is proved false.

“I find it deeply troubling that Dan Sullivan would run thousands of dollars of ads to mislead Alaskans about his role in the passage of legislation that he fought against,” said Miller. “This latest information proves without a doubt that Dan had nothing to do with passing Stand Your Ground.”

Assistant Attorney General Alan Birnbaum signed the FOIA response which states:

“The Alaska Department of Law received your July 3, 2014, request for records ‘exchanged between then-Attorney General Dan Sullivan and his staff’ and/or ‘Representative Mark Neuman’s office, relating to HB 381, or so-called Stand Your Ground legislation during the years 2009 and 2010.

Despite a diligent search, the Department identified no responsive paper or electronic records.”

This latest FOIA disclosure confirms what the Miller campaign has already determined – that Dan Sullivan continues to mislead Alaskans when he inflates his involvement in the Stand Your Ground legislation passage. Local progressive columnist Shannyn Moore and the nonpartisan Politifact.com also debunked Sullivan’s claims.

“In a court of law, this would be an ‘opened and closed case,’” said Miller. “As our former Attorney General, Dan Sullivan knows this. He knows the score. That’s why he’s acting like he still has a ‘duty to retreat.’”

Sullivan Fails to Stand His Ground

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I support the Second Amendment. I have guns and, because we have some lunatics on the loose in this state, I conceal carry. But I didn’t support the so-called “Stand Your Ground” law that allows people to shoot those they fear without trying to retreat first. If you can retreat safely, you should — rather than take someone’s life.

It was a controversial bill that many believed would lead to more violence, so you can imagine my happy surprise when Sarah Palin’s then-attorney general, Dan Sullivan, opposed the bill and helped kill it in 2010. I was impressed that Sarah Palin had actually hired an attorney general willing to stand his ground against insane gun laws.

Maybe bringing in a guy from Ohio or D.C. or Maryland, or wherever Dan is from, to be our chief law enforcement officer — one who had seen first-hand too much gun violence Outside — was going to benefit Alaska.

But now I’m watching as Ohio Dan tries to rewrite the history of his opposition to Stand Your Ground. In a recent radio ad, Sullivan claims, “As Alaska’s attorney general, (I) successfully fought to protect our Second Amendment rights and passed ‘Stand your Ground.’ ”

This claim is just plain false, according to the nonpartisan, Pulitzer Prize-winning website Politifact.com. Come on, Dan, don’t weasel on this. Embrace your decision to do the right thing and kill what really was a bad bill.

As a Marine, Dan Sullivan is a chain-of-command guy. As attorney general, he made sure the troops under him — directors, assistants and others — toed his line. In fact, just last March, in front of a tea party audience, Dan bragged that he was responsible for “everything” done by the Department of Law while he was AG. That’s what makes Sullivan’s lie about Stand Your Ground so blatant.

How do we know he’s running from the truth? For starters, there’s a March 15, 2010, letter to the House Judiciary Committee expressing “serious concern” about House Bill 381, the Stand Your Ground bill. The letter went on to say the law would be “a bad idea for our state.” The letter is signed, “Sincerely, Daniel S. Sullivan Attorney General” and “By John Skidmore Assistant Attorney General.”

As reported by the Daily News, Sullivan now claims “it’s not my letter,” that it was written by a “staffer,” he had no idea about it and disagrees with it. President Harry Truman, also a military man, famously had a sign on his desk that said, “The buck stops here.” Apparently, Dan left his sign back in Ohio.

So let’s assume Sullivan managed his department in such a way that he had no idea what his assistant attorneys general were writing to the Legislature under his signature. Surely he knew what testimony they were giving to the Legislature on high-profile legislation, right?

So wouldn’t he have known that Anne Carpeneti, an assistant attorney general, Legal Section, Criminal Division, Department of Law, was requested to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on March 15, 2010, “to offer us the point of view of the Department of Law”?

Carpeneti started her testimony by saying, “I represent the Criminal Division of the Department of Law.” She apologized for the late delivery of the March 15 Sullivan/Skidmore letter, explaining, “We were working on it all morning.”

She went on to testify: “We are confused and concerned about this bill … The way the department reads this bill, it would really contribute to violence in this state.” She testified again on March 29, 2010, before the House Judiciary Committee. She noted that the Department of Law “still has concerns” about the bill.

The bill passed out of the committee and advanced to the House Finance Committee. Before Finance, on April 8, 2010, Carpeneti again testified that the law department was concerned that HB 381 would increase violence in Alaska. Nonetheless, HB 381 passed the House, 32-8, that same day.

As the discussion moved to the Senate, the Department of Law sent Susan McLean, the director of the Criminal Division of the Department of Law, to testify before the Judiciary Committee. On April 16, 2010, she pulled no punches, forcefully declaring, “I want to make our position very clear here, which is, we are opposed to the law.” The bill died a few days later. The bill didn’t become law until three years later — long after Dan Sullivan had left the Department of Law.

Does Dan really expect us to believe he had no idea Assistant Attorney General Skidmore was writing under his name that HB 381 was a “bad idea”? That Assistant Attorney General Carpeneti was testifying before multiple committees about the Department of Law’s “concerns” about promoting violence? That his Criminal Division director testified that the department flat out opposed the law?

What does this tell us about Dan Sullivan’s ability to run a department of state government? Did the Department of Law simply go rogue while supposedly under his control? I don’t think so. I think the real question is:

Does U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan have the integrity to tell Alaskans the truth and suffer the consequences?

The answer seems to be no. Sullivan is trying to deceive Alaskans, and he appears willing to turn anyone who gets in the way into a speed bump.

Oh, there’s one more document Dan hasn’t explained. It’s a “fiscal note,” dated March 30, 2010, detailing the expected costs of the Stand Your Ground bill: $400,000 a year for two new attorneys because “this bill will make prosecution of homicide cases more difficult … and it will probably result in more jury trials.” The note was “Approved by: Daniel S. Sullivan, Attorney General.”

To quote Dan’s former boss, Sarah Palin, “How ’bout ya quit makin’ stuff up.”

Shannyn Moore is a radio broadcaster. You can hear her show, “The Last Word,” Monday through Friday 4-6 p.m. on KOAN 95.5 FM and 1080 AM and 1480 We Act Radio in Washington, D.C., and on Netroots Radio.

This article was published in-full on Restoring Liberty with permission from the author.

Sullivan ‘Stand Your Ground’ Claims Not Credible

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Photo Credit: dmcdevitFor weeks US Senate candidate Dan Sullivan has been running radio ads claiming that “as Alaska’s Attorney General, [he] successfully fought to . . . pass Stand Your Ground.”

When one examines the public record, this claim is problematic on several levels.

The first, and most obvious, problem is that Dan Sullivan left the Attorney General’s Office in December 2010, more than two years before the Alaska Legislature passed Stand Your Ground in April 2013.

Sullivan supporters might protest that he is not claiming to have passed the bill, but rather to have “fought to . . . pass” it. Fair enough, but the clear impression the ad leaves is that the bill passed during Sullivan’s tenure as Attorney General.

Regardless, that option isn’t very helpful either, because a letter was submitted to the House Judiciary Committee by Sullivan’s Department of Law opposing the HB 381 (Stand Your Ground) bill during the 2010 Legislative Session. To make matters worse, Dan Sullivan’s name is in the signature line, though Assistant Attorney General John Skidmore actually signed it.

In the letter of opposition, Skidmore, speaking on Sullivan’s behalf, states unequivocally that the bill “would promote violence and be a bad idea for our state.”

The bill sponsor, Representative Mark Neuman (R- Big Lake), has suggested that Sullivan’s office worked with him on the bill to simplify the language. But Committee minutes and audio recordings indicate that despite the fact that there was collaboration to address some of the stated concerns, the bill was opposed at every stage of the legislative process by the Department of Law under Sullivan’s leadership. The objection at issue remained removal of the “duty to retreat” from Alaska Statutes.

The aforementioned letter opposing HB 381 (Stand Your Ground) was presented as part of the record for the first Committee hearing in House Judiciary Committee on March 15, 2010. At that time, Assistant Attorney General Anne Carpeneti raised the Department’s concerns and answered questions. Mr. Neuman points to committee minutes from that hearing to confirm that he worked with the Department of Law to simplify the language, which is correct.

However, at the very next hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on March 29, 2010, Carpeneti clearly stated that the Department of Law still had concerns with the new Committee Substitute reflecting the updated changes. That version of the bill was the working document for all hearings on HB 381 (Stand Your Ground) for the remainder of that last session of the 26th Legislature, and was re-introduced in January 2011 at the beginning of the 27th Legislature, at which time Dan Sullivan was no longer Attorney General.

Representative Neuman’s repeated suggestions that the letter of opposition, proffered on behalf of Dan Sullivan by Assistant Attorney General John Skidmore, was irrelevant after the language of the bill was simplified could not be more misguided. The letter specifically addressed section (6) of the original bill, which was the exact language retained in the working draft – “in any place where the person has a right to be.”

The opposition expressed was grounded in the Department of Law’s objection to that specific language, which, in their view, removed “the duty to retreat.” The letter went on to say, “this does not express a value for human life” or “encourage finding a resolution to disputes other than violence.”

When HB 381 (Stand Your Ground) was heard in the House Finance Committee on April 8, 2010, Assistant Attorney General Anne Carpeneti reiterated her concerns, stating – “we still have concerns that this bill will increase violence in our state” and will “eliminate the duty to retreat.”

In the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 15, 2010 the third of Sullivan’s Assistant Attorneys General testified against the bill. This time it was the Director of the Criminal Division of the Department of Law, Sue McLean, who stated the following:

“HB 381 and similar laws have been characterized as “stand your ground” laws – and this is a trend – but it’s not about standing your ground. It really is about shooting first. Prosecutors nationwide are opposed to this type of law, and the Alaska Department of Law is similarly opposed. It promotes and condones a level of violence that may not have been necessary.”

Later in the hearing McLean further opined, “HB 381 takes away the duty to reasonably retreat. That’s why we’re so greatly opposed to it.”

On April 16, 2010 Assistant Attorney General Sue McLean testified again before the Senate Judiciary Committee, asserting that “this change in the law would give unreasonable people a license to act unreasonably and not retreat.”

Later in that same hearing, a friendly amendment drafted by attorneys at the Department of Law was offered, at which time McLean maintained, notwithstanding, the “Department of Law is opposed to this law.” The bill later died in the Senate Finance Committee.

It is clear from the legislative record that Dan Sullivan’s Department of Law unequivocally opposed HB 381 (Stand Your Ground).

Dan Sullivan’s defense now rests on passing the buck, as he did in a US Senate debate sponsored by KOAN radio and organized by the Anchorage Republican Women’s Club. When pressed in debate on the letter submitted to the House Judiciary Committee in his name, Sullivan responded that it wasn’t his letter, he didn’t write it.

Sullivan spokesman Mike Anderson was said to have echoed the candidate’s sentiments in a piece published on Amandacoyne.com. “In regards to the Department of Law letter in question, Dan didn’t write the letter, he didn’t see it before it went out, nor does he agree with the attorney who wrote it,” said Anderson.

Coyne also reported speaking with Assistant Attorney General John Skidmore, who now apparently claims to have acted independent of Sullivan. Yet the letter bears Sullivan’s name.

How “out to lunch” would one have to be if he really did “support it from the beginning,” as Sullivan claimed in a June 13 interview on the Mike Porcaro Show on 650 KENI, and not know that his subordinates at the Department of Law were officially opposing it?

Skidmore’s public statements regarding Sullivan’s lack of awareness of what was going on in his own Department are not only unflattering to Sullivan, but bespeak even deeper problems at the Department of Law if whole Divisions are out there going rogue on the Governor and the Attorney General to whom they are supposed to be accountable.

Let’s assume, for purposes of argument, that Sullivan really was in the dark with respect to the letter written in his name. Let’s also assume that he was unaware of his Department’s opposition to Stand Your Ground. Does this make his case any more plausible?

Remember, Sullivan’s claim is not just that he “supported it from the beginning,” but that he also “fought . . . to pass Stand Your Ground.” Skidmore’s defense of Sullivan makes it abundantly clear that Sullivan, in fact, did NOT “fight . . . to pass Stand Your Ground.” Not only did he not fight to pass it, he was completely uninvolved, and even ignorant of what was going on. He clearly didn’t follow the deliberations, nor did he bother to state his opinion for the record. Furthermore, he obviously didn’t exercise proper oversight over his subordinates, or represent the Governor at whose pleasure he served. So does the claim that Sullivan “fought . . . to pass Stand Your Ground” pass the red face test under even the most minimal standards? The answer is obviously “no.”

The independent politifact.com was indeed correct in rating any claim that Sullivan was responsible for passing Stand Your Ground as a false claim.

It is also clear that the more nuanced claim that Sullivan “fought . . . to pass Stand Your Ground” is also a false claim.

What is unclear is whether Sullivan ever supported Stand Your Ground at all. There is not a scintilla of independent evidence that he did. The only thing we have to date is Sullivan’s own word, and a veiled statement by Representative Mark Neuman that he thinks Dan Sullivan supported it, despite his admission that he never personally discussed the legislation with him. Neuman’s deliberations were with Sullivan’s staff at the Department of Law who are on public record opposing HB 381 (Stand Your Ground) throughout Sullivan’s tenure as Attorney General, and it doesn’t help Sullivan’s case that the Department of Law reversed course and supported Stand Your Ground legislation after Sullivan left the Attorney General’s Office.

Whether Sullivan really supported Stand Your Ground before running for United States Senate . . .

You decide.

Senate Candidate Dan Sullivan says He Passed 'Stand Your Ground' in Alaska: Politifact Truth-O-Meter Says 'False'

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Photo Credit: PolitifactIn his campaign for Senate, Republican front-runner Dan Sullivan touts his history of protecting Second Amendment rights in the hunting-loving state of Alaska.

But a recent pro-Sullivan ad might have stretched the rifle and pistol expert’s record a little too far.

“As Alaska’s attorney general, Sullivan successfully fought to protect our Second Amendment rights and passed ‘stand your ground,’ ” said a recent radio ad out of the Sullivan campaign.

Our ruling

We found that evidence of Sullivan’s support for “stand your ground” is dubious at best. We couldn’t find any public proof of his support, and multiple attorneys under him spoke out against the law. Even if he had publicly shown support for “stand your ground,” he wasn’t in a position to push the legislation forward when the law finally passed in 2013.

We rate this claim False.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ted Cruz Explains to Trayvon Martin’s Mother How ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws Help Protect the Black Community (+video)

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Photo Credit: C-SPANSen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) came face-to-face with Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, on Capitol Hill during a Tuesday hearing on “Stand Your Ground” laws. After offering his condolences to Fulton, Cruz told the mother that the self-defense laws are not racist because they help blacks as much as whites, if not more.

Cruz also explained that, despite some efforts to exploit Martin’s death, George Zimmerman’s defense team never used Stand Your Ground laws as a defense in the murder trial.

“We know that some in our political process have a desire to exploit that tragic, violent incident for agendas that have nothing to do with that young man who lost his life. We have seen efforts to undermine the verdict of the jury and, more broadly, to inflame racial tensions that I think are sad and irresponsible,” the Texas senator added.

Read more from this story HERE.

Goldwater Institute to Durbin: ‘Have you no decency?’

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Conservative groups lambasted Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) after the lawmaker sent a letter to hundreds of alleged donors to the American Legislative Exchange Committee (ALEC) asking if they still supported ALEC and so-called “stand your ground” laws.

Durbin sent a letter to hundreds of suspected ALEC donors asking “whether companies that have funded ALEC’s operations in the past currently support ALEC and the model ‘stand your ground’ legislation.”

“Have you no sense of decency?” the Goldwater Institute responded in a letter to Durbin echoing a famous question posed to Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

“It is the same question we pose to your office today in response to your effort to intimidate us for daring to associate with the free market, limited government organization known as the American Legislative Exchange Council,” the Goldwater Institute continued.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ted Nugent Slams Celebs For Boycotting Florida, Suggests Boycotting Chicago (+audio)

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Photo Credit: opposing viewsRock star turned right wing commentator, Ted Nugent, accused celebrities who vowed to boycott Florida over its “Stand Your Ground” law of being drug abusers and said they might as well boycott Chicago, too.

On Andrea Tantaros’ Tuesday radio show, Nugent said celebrities boycotting Florida, like Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Madonna, and Kanye West, live in “a fog of denial” because their brains are “fried.”

“When you live in a fog of denial, and usually it is inspired by just a lifetime of substance abuse — you know with all the lies about dope being a ‘victimless crime’ — I think you’re listening to the victims of this dopey crime because their brains are fried,” Nugent said. “They’re either fried on substance abuse, and all of them know who I’m talking about — the guilty can feel guilty and only the guilty should feel guilty. But there’s also a fog of denial when you’re surrounded by yes men all your life, where you’re having people picking up after you and you have people serving you.”

Nugent added that celebrities might as well boycott Chicago while they’re at it, arguing that residents there are “left out of their cages to commit more brutal murders and rape and carjackings and slaughter of innocence.”

Read more from this story HERE.

If a Person Cannot ‘Stand His Ground,’ What Can He Do?

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By Bruce Johnson. Per the Florida Statute, Use of force in defense of person. 776.012

“A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if:

He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent (1) death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony; ..”

If you have no opportunity to retreat, you can stand your ground. If that is “bad law,” please provide, Mr. Holder, the “good law.”

Are we to pull out a rule book if we are pinned to the ground, or may we defend ourselves against someone who is in the process of rearranging your brain cells against the concrete?

If a Black Panther comes at you with a billy club at a polling place, and you defend yourself, in the Holder world, have you done something wrong? Probably. Read more from this story HERE.

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Obama co-sponsored bill strengthening Illinois stand-your-ground law in 2004

By Thomas Lifson. Now we have proof that the current Obama-Holder campaign against stand-your-ground laws is nothing more than a pose intended to distract from their political problems, having whipped up a racialist fury and pushed prosecution of George Zimmerman. Although State Senator Barack Obama could boast of few legislative accomplishments, one thing he did do was co-sponsor a bill strengthening the Illionois stand-your-ground law. The Illinois Review writes:

The Obama-sponsored bill (SB 2386) enlarged the state’s 1961 law by shielding the person who was attacked from being sued in civil court by perpetrators or their estates when a “stand your ground” defense is used in protecting his or her person, dwelling or other property…

Read more from this story HERE.