Barber v. State, Dept. of Corrections

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of prisoners’ motions seeking enforcement of the Cleary Final Settlement Agreement. It held that the superior court’s unappealed 2001 order became law of the case and did not terminate the Agreement itself; reversing that determination required findings of exceptional circumstances, clear error, and manifest injustice that were absent. The court remanded for the superior court to determine whether each prisoner’s motion satisfies the applicable statutory and settlement requirements.