The March 1979 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum features the first of two articles reporting on a national symposium on police higher education; the final order of Anchorage Superior Court Judge James K. Singleton in the case of Moseley v. Beirne, a class action suit attacking conditions and overcrowding in the Southcentral Correctional Center Annex (Sixth Avenue Jail) in Anchorage; the appointment of Bill Nix as Commissioner of Public Safety; the appointment of Charles F. Campbell as Director of the Alaska Division of Corrections; and a bill to establish an intermediate court of appeals as proposed by the Alaska Court System. Also included are digests of recent Alaska Supreme Court opinions, points brought up in criminal appeals cases, and proposed legislation, and the announcement of an upcoming judicial conferences.

The January 1979 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum opens with a summary of Anchorage Superior Court Judge Victor D. Carlson's decision in the case of Sundberg v. State, in which he ruled AS 12.15.080, 'Means to Effect Arrest,' unconstitutional to the extent that it permits a peace officer to use deadly force to apprehend a suspect who is not a threat to anyone's life. Carlson declared Russel Sundberg's arrest for burglary unlawful due to use of excessive force and suppressed the evidence resulting from the arrest. The executive director of the Alaska Parole Board describes the importance of parole guidelines in light of the provision for such guidelines in the newly enacted Revised Alaska Criminal Code (effective January 1, 1980). A a new program in Anchorage for the prevention and prosecution of bad check writers is described. Also included are digests of recent Alaska Supreme Court opinions and points brought up in criminal appeals cases and a justice training calendar.

The Fall 1987 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum features articles on the growth of Alaska’s correctional population; 1986 data on households victimized by crime; the formation of a drug enforcement unit as part of Alaska's implementation of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986; and a summary of results of a study of visiting policies and practices in state-operated prisons throughout the U.S. October 1987 population figures for Alaska Department of Corrections facilities are presented.

The Alaska Justice Forum has resumed publication after a seven-year hiatus. The original Forum was published from 1977 to 1980. The Spring 1987 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum features articles on the implementation of Offender-Based State Correctional Information System (OBSCIS) by the Alaska Department of Corrections; a Bureau of Justice Statistics study estimating the likelihood of imprisonment for persons arrested for robbery, burglary, or theft in the U.S., Canada, England, and West Germany; and preliminary results of a study assessing the impact on Alaska of participation in the Interstate Compact for Probation and Parole; and results of a public opinion poll showing that a majority of Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough residents oppose selection of Fire Island as a site for a long-term correctional facility. Briefer items address the appointment by Governor Steve Cowper of a committee to coordinate Alaska's implementation of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 and two new Alaska Judicial Council research reports. March 1987 population figures for Alaska Department of Corrections facilities are presented.

The Fall 1988 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum reports the results of study of the Alaska Pretrial Intervention (PTI) of the Alaska Department of Law, which operated from 1983 to 1986. The PTI program was intended to provide an alternative to full prosecution in cases where the nature of the offense did not appear to warrant such prosecution; the study concludes that the program succeeded according to a number of factors. An article on the policy for Native self-determination in Alaska developed by Congress and the state has sought to replace a tribal model of governance with a body of legislation which confirms land rights without the direct political involvement of Alaska Native villages; however, the author argues, the absence of tribes as formal political structures has contributed to a loss of self-determination among Alaska Natives and to serious negative effects on Native village life. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports on a national survey of criminal defense programs for the poor. September 1988 population figures for Alaska Department of Corrections facilities are presented.

The Spring 1988 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum features articles on preliminary Uniform Crime Reporting statistics showing a decline in crime in Anchorage between 1986 and 1987; national data on state court caseloads showing more than 14.3 million new civil cases filed in limited and general jurisdiction state courts in 1985, with 42,351 new civil cases filed in Alaska; and Bureau of Justice Statistics data on drunk driving in the U.S.

The Fall 1989 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum features a discussion President George H.W. Bush's drug control plan, “The National Drug Control Strategy,” presents details of the plan, its anticipated results, funding plans, and reaction to the plan by Congress and others. The Bureau of Justice Statistics presents 1988 statistics on criminal victimization. The Justice Center, under contract to the Alaska Division of Family and Youth Services, has designed a new monitoring system to improve Alaska’s compliance with the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. September 1989 population figures for Alaska Department of Corrections facilities are presented.

The Spring 1989 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum presents the second of two articles analyzing Alaska crime trends; Uniform Crime Reporting data and additional data compiled by the Alaska State Troopers are used to analyze 1963–1987 statewide trends for each of the seven criminal offenses included in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's crime index (arson is not included). The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports on federal and state correctional populations at yearend 1988, finding an increase of 7.4% over 1987 figures and a 90% increase from the 1980 prison population. In an exerpt from a longer paper on the problem of providing legal advice to Alaska Native villages, the author argues that villages may gain short-term control over problems such as alcohol and substance abuse through informal “demi-law” approaches, but ultimately they need to challenge the formal laws which block them from exerting local village authority.

The Fall 1990 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum presents findings from a report on the progress of Los Angeles Police Department in actively recruiting women and minorities in response to a 1980 federal consent decree mandating changes in its recruitment, selection, training, and employment practices. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports statistics on criminal victimization for 1989 from the National Crime Survey, which measures personal and household offenses, including crimes not reported to police. The Alaska Sentencing Commission, created to evaluate Alaska’s sentencing laws and practices and to recommend improvements, begins its work.

The Spring 1990 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum reviews evidence that charge bargaining in Alaska occurs — despite the formal ban on plea bargaining in Alaska in 1975 — and analyzes the impact of charge bargaining on sentencing practices. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports findings of the National Judicial Reporting Program, which found that, of the estimated 583,000 persons convicted of a felony in 1986, eight percent were found guilty by a jury, three percent were found guilty by a judge, and 89 percent pled guilty. Preliminary Uniform Crime Report (UCR) figures show a 2.5 percent drop in the number of serious crimes in Anchorage between 1988 and 1989. April 1990 population figures for Alaska Department of Corrections facilities are presented.