All Eyes on the Supreme Court… & Tee Harbor, Alaska

On designated Friday mornings during the Supreme Court’s term, the nine justices meet alone in their conference room to discuss the many petitions requesting judicial review. Fewer than one in a hundred are selected, but one case the justices will consider in the next few months already has an outsized chance. It’s an otherwise small property rights dispute with a huge national impact.

Last January, the Alaska Supreme Court wrongly stripped Vern Fiehler and his son Levi of reasonable access to their family home. Vern bought the original Tee Harbor homestead in 1979 and built the house that Levi grew up in and later helped renovate. Like many homes in Alaska, it is mostly inaccessible by land and must be supplied by boat. Levi’s plan to take over the home was disrupted when next-door neighbors challenged the property lines—established by a federal surveyor in 1938—to acquire the beach access in front of the Fiehlers’ house.

The Alaska court rejected a long line of Supreme Court rulings that a federal surveyors’ findings are “unassailable” by state officials, including state courts, to protect homesteaders who agreed to settle federal lands. Thus, when the federal government surveys its own land and transfers ownership, state courts cannot later change the property boundaries. Alaska’s contrary ruling conflicts with both the Constitution and decisions of 11 state courts and one federal court of appeals.

When the Fiehlers approached CIR, they said they had run out of options. They spent virtually all their savings defending their property rights, and they had no means to seek further review. Because of their compelling need, and the dramatic consequences that the Alaska decision could have for millions of acres of land in many states that were originally owned by the federal government, CIR was glad to take over the case. Teaming up with Supreme Court superstar Kannon Shanmugam, we’ve given the Fiehlers renewed hope that justice will be done.

Levi also said he was buoyed by the outpouring of support he received at CIR’s 35th anniversary party, even as he blushed when we explained that he is a rising TV and movie actor with a major role in the Syfy comedy-drama Resident Alien and appearances in CSI and Ray Donovan.

The constitutional significance of the case and Alaska’s conflict with numerous other courts gives us every reason to hope that the Supreme Court will hear the Fiehlers’ righteous case. Indeed, the justices issued a rare summer notice to Alaska and the neighbors to respond to our petition, which increases the likelihood of our petition being granted significantly.

On the day their case is scheduled to be considered in conference, Vern and Levi will wake early in Tee Harbor and wonder whether the justices will vote to hear the appeal. Their case is a vital reminder that real federalism, which keeps both the federal and state governments in their lanes, is the best defense of individual rights.