AG Cox reverses decision to withhold text of amicus briefs from Alaskans

I wrote here April 28 about the propensity of temporary Attorney General Stephen Cox to file amicus briefs on right-wing causes generated elsewhere in America.

In confirmation hearings Thursday and Friday, Cox has claimed he has not been on a filing spree—having signed off on about 110 from last September until the end of March. He said this is comparable to former gernerals in the Dunleavy era.

The Department of Law recently claimed that because of “resource constraints,’’ it would no longer post the amicus briefs signed by General Cox.

I said that Cox seems to be competing for his next job in the political realm, while concealing the arguments he is making from Alaskans in the avalanche of amicus briefs. The department began listing only the names of the cases, not the text of the documents signed by Cox.

I wrote the department’s public relations man to ask how many amicus briefs that Cox has signed onto during April. I also objected to the refusal of the department to post the cases. I asked him what “resource constraints” prevented posting the documents.

Cox’s public relations man did not reply.

On Thursday, Cox told the Senate State Affairs Committee that he did not direct a subordinate to stop posting the documents.

He said he did not know how that happened or what the resource constraints were. He did not know why links that had formerly been provided for older cases had also been removed.

Cox testified that he had directed his employees to start posting the documents again.

During the hearing, the department posted the links, with no explanation. The “resource constraints” argument was obviously bogus.

It should not have taken the pressure of a confirmation hearing to get those documents posted to allow Alaskans to know what Cox is doing in courts across the land.

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