As of 1975, Alaska’s criminal laws were based primarily on Oregon criminal statutes as they existed at the close of the nineteenth century, with new statutes added and old statutes amended over the succeeding 75 years by Alaska territorial and state legislatures in a piecemeal approach to revision. This resulted in a criminal code containing outdated statutes, obsolete terminology, a number of overly specific statutes, a haphazard approach to mens rea (the culpable mental state with which a defendant must perform an act in order to be convicted of a crime) and the lack of a coherent, rational sentencing structure.
The Alaska Criminal Code Revision Commission was established in 1975 with the responsibility to present a comprehensive revision of Alaska’s criminal code for consideration by the Alaska State Legislature. (The Commission was reestablished in June 1976 as a Subcommission of the newly formed Code Commission.) Staff services for the Criminal Code Revision Commission and Criminal Code Revision Subcommission were provided by the Criminal Justice Center at University of Alaska, Anchorage (John Havelock, project executive director; Barry Jeffrey Stern, reporter/staff counsel; Sheila Gallagher, Reporter/Staff Counsel; and Peter Smith Ring, research director). The tentative draft proposed by the Criminal Code Revision Subcommission was substantially amended by the Alaska State Legislature prior to its approval as the Revised Alaska Criminal Code in June 1978 (effective January 1, 1980).The Alaska Criminal Code Revision Commission was established in 1975, and reestablished in June 1976 as a Subcommission of the newly formed Code Commission, with the responsibility to present a comprehensive revision of Alaska’s criminal code for consideration by the Alaska State Legislature. Tentative Draft, Part 5, includes the remaining substantive provisions of the draft Revised Criminal Code not covered in prior parts of the tentative draft: articles on general provisions, justification (part 2), and responsibility (mental disease or defect); remaining sections in the Offenses Against Property chapter (issuing a bad check, littering); articles on business and commercial offenses (part 2) and credit card offenses; offenses against the family; the remaining article in the Offenses Against Public Administration chapter (abuse of public office); two Offenses Against Public Order articles (riot, disorderly conduct, and related offenses; and offenses against privacy of communication); weapons and explosives; and miscellaneous offenses. Commentary following each draft statute is designed to aid the reader in analyzing the effect of the draft Revised Code on existing law and also provides a section-by-section analysis of each provision of the draft Revised Code. Appendices include derivations of each provision of the Code and amendments to provisions contained in the Tentative Draft, Parts 1–3.Alaska Criminal Code Revision SubcommissionIntroduction to Tentative Draft, Part 5 //
TENTATIVE DRAFTS AND COMMENTARY /
I. General Provisions /
II. General Principles of Justification /
III. Responsibility [Mental Disease or Defect] /
IV. Theft and Related Offenses [Issuing a Bad Check] /
V. Arson, Criminal Mischief and Related Offenses [Littering] /
VI. Business and Commercial Offenses /
VII. Credit Card Offenses /
VIII. Offenses Against the Family /
IX. Abuse of Public Office /
X. Riot, Disorderly Conduct and Related Offenses /
XI. Offenses Against Privacy of Communication /
XII. Weapons and Explosives .
XIII. Miscellaneous Offenses //
APPENDICES /
I. Derivations of Tentative Drafts /
II. Amendments to Tentative Draft, Parts 1-
