The Alaska Supreme Court last month rejected a former Haines Borough candidate’s claims that he had to keep confidential his financial earnings.
Haines realtor James Studley had sued the Alaska Public Office Commission (APOC) saying he was unable to reveal his clients’ names and payments because of confidentiality.
The supreme court upheld the decision of the lower court saying Studley did not have an exemption to the disclosure rule.
All candidates for public office are required to report their earnings above $1,000. But when Studley ran for borough assembly 2012, he didn’t specify his earnings, instead he generalized them saying that he made between $20,000-$50,000 from real estate sales. The APOC said that wasn’t good enough even though Studley said revealing specifics would “infringe on his clients’ privacy.”
APOC denied Studley’s blanket exemption request and fined him $175 for the incomplete disclosure. Studley appealed to Alaska Superior Court and later to the supreme court.
Justice Daniel Winfree wrote in his decision that Studley had not proven that the disclosure of his finances would harm his clients. “We conclude that Studley’s hypothetical scenarios are an insufficient basis for an exemption from the financial disclosure requirement… Hypothetical scenarios do not qualify as facts necessary to show that an exemption . . . is applicable.”