Surprise cancellation of a legislative hearing on Alaska prison deaths exposes fissures in the House

On Tuesday, the Alaska House Community and Regional Affairs Committee was scheduled to hear a presentation by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska about a record-breaking run of deaths in state prisons and jails. But after a last-minute procedural objection by Big Lake Republican Rep. Kevin McCabe, the hearing was canceled on the spot, a departure from usual legislative decorum that left the lawmakers involved prickly and the ACLU fuming. What happened was a bad look for the legislature, said Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham independent. “I don’t think it...