James E. Barber, Appellant v. State of Alaska, Department of Corrections, Appellee

Summary

The court held that applying the prisoner filing-fee statute to Barber violated the Alaska Constitution's due process guarantee because the required fees exceeded his available resources and effectively denied review of disciplinary proceedings implicating liberty and constitutional interests. The statute did not authorize courts to waive the mandatory fee entirely or to exclude statutorily garnished funds from the calculation, but courts could use extensions, installments, or an account hold where appropriate. The court reversed the dismissals and remanded for recalculation and further proceedings.