Alaska Deaths in Custody Tie Record High
In a grim milestone that reflects Alaska’s neglect of prisoners, the state Department of Corrections (DOC) reported 18 deaths in 2025, tying the previous record set in 2022.
In its coverage of the concerning matter, the Alaska Beacon claimed the death toll is the result of a department that has operated without independent oversight since the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) dissolved its internal investigative unit in 2018. The deceased range in age from Christopher Ligons, 30, to Keith Landers, 94, and more than half of 2025’s in-custody deaths were over the age of 60.
While officials attribute 68 percent of deaths since 2016 to “natural causes,” advocates argue these fatalities are the byproduct of “deliberate indifference” to medical needs. Compounding the tragedy is the state’s refusal to use medical or geriatric parole; despite an aging population, the Alaska Parole Board has not granted a single medical release since 2020.
To make matters worse, the DOC has been accused of “paper-releasing” dying prisoners to hospital custody to avoid counting them as in-custody deaths. Lawmakers and the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are now demanding the reinstatement of external oversight and legislative reform to address what they describe as a “devastating and preventable” loss of life. “It’s devastating, it’s preventable, and it’s unacceptable that there haven’t been any changes made to reduce deaths in custody,” Megan Edge, director of integrated justice with the ACLU of Alaska, told The Alaska Beacon.
Source: The Alaska Beacon
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