Opinion ID: 2546657
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Standing of Dismissed Plaintiffs

Text: Plaintiffs also argue that it was error to dismiss for lack of standing the claims of eight villages located in incorporated municipalities, and the claims of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council and the Alaska Native Justice Center. We do not need to consider the standing of these dismissed plaintiffs. We ruled above that the superior court did not err in rejecting the remaining plaintiffs' equal protection claims on their merits, and there has been no suggestion that the dismissed plaintiffs could have offered additional evidence that could have changed the outcome on any of the equal protection claims. The dismissed plaintiffs have not explained what additional arguments or evidence they would have raised at trial, and they made no offer of proof. The superior court allowed the remaining plaintiffs to present evidence about all villages in Alaska, and they indeed offered evidence at trial about villages that had been dismissed as plaintiffs. Because the dismissed plaintiffs have not explained how their identical claims might have been resolved more favorably after trial, any possible error in dismissing them from the case was harmless.