The three-judge panel of the Ninth District Court of Appeals gave former Alaska state Sen. Lora Reinbold plenty of latitude when she represented herself in late April, but they didn’t find her convincing.
In an order issued in late May, the district denied Reinbold’s motion to revive a lawsuit against Alaska Airlines over its decision to temporarily ban her from flying during the pandemic after she refused to follow masking rules. The case had already been dismissed by a federal judge, which Reinbold was seeking to reverse, but the Ninth District Court of Appeals ruled that she had failed to meet the basic legal grounds for challenging the airline.
At the heart of Reinbold’s claim is that, because Alaska Airlines was enforcing the government’s masking rules, operated out of a city-owned airport, and could call police for backup during the altercation, it was effectively acting as a state actor and therefore could be sued for violating her constitutional rights.
“I can tell you, the flight was 100% peaceful. I went ahead and boarded the plane, 100% peaceful. Got off. I honestly thought it was a joke when I got banned,” she told the judges during her April hearing, later adding, “They discriminated. They targeted me, and they denied a senator — me as a senator — on the monopoly carrier. I was in furtherance of my constitutional duties, and they blocked any meaningful access to the Capitol to and from, and I think that’s absolutely critical.”
That’s a point no one else seems to have agreed upon — the airline’s attorney pointing out that airplanes are not considered public accommodations and that there’s “certainly no constitutional right to fly Alaska” — including the Ninth District Court of Appeals.
In its order, the court explains that Reinbold has yet to prove why Alaska Airlines should be considered a government actor under a law that allows people to sue the government for violating their constitutional rights.
“Reinbold has not alleged facts that plausibly establish Alaska Airlines was operating as a state actor in enforcing government-imposed COVID-19 mask mandates. Reinbold argues that Alaska Airlines and its employees acted under color of law by ‘aggressively enforcing’ state and federal mask mandates at ‘state-owned airport facilities’ and by ‘coordinating with state officials,'” explained the order. “Neither the airline nor its employees become state actors simply by virtue of enforcing government regulations. Nor is the airline transformed into a state actor by operating on state property or benefitting from the assistance of state law enforcement.”
The ruling also found that Reinbold should not be allowed to amend her legal complaint for a third time, noting that she had already missed several opportunities to do so. It notes that allowing her to update it for a third time — effectively allowing her to fix the problems identified by the courts or add new claims — would be unfair to Alaska Airlines and the several individuals named (some only by their first name) in the suit.
While Reinbold’s departure from politics in 2022 marked the end of her time in the Alaska Legislature — where she had stood out as one of the most extreme Republicans — it hasn’t marked the end of her legal troubles. In addition to her attempt to take on Alaska Airlines, she was sued in civil court for banning a constituent from viewing her official Facebook page.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Bluesky.
