Is Alaska’s grand jury still the people’s tool for oversight, or has it become another lever of government control? In this episode of the Must Read Alaska Show, host Ben Carpenter presses Attorney General Treg Taylor on the Supreme Court’s controversial move to make him the “gatekeeper” for public access to grand juries.

Taylor defends new procedures, acknowledges constitutional concerns, and reveals why he intends to be a “poor gatekeeper” in order to restore public trust. Together, Carpenter and Taylor debate the balance between secrecy and transparency, the risk of runaway grand juries versus weaponized complaints, and whether only a constitutional amendment can guarantee Alaskans’ right to use the grand jury to root out corruption.

This hard-hitting conversation digs into whether the state’s justice system protects the people — or itself.