Matt Claman calls himself a “public safety champion” — but with lawyer Matt Claman, you always have to read the fine print. Check the facts below:

• CLAIM: Matt Claman “[f]ought to keep the dangerous Senate Bill 91, which he calls ‘smart justice’”. FACT-CHECK: 100% TRUE. Claman was the most common voice arguing against repealing the dangerous Senate Bill 91 (SB 91) — and he also was the repeal effort’s principal obstacle. He repeatedly referred to SB 91 as “smart justice” in public speaking and in his legislative newsletters. There are many examples of his resistance to a repeal, but you can read his own Anchorage Daily News (ADN) op-ed on the subject here.

• CLAIM: Matt Claman “SUPPORTED letting arrested suspects out automatically — and without bail”. FACT-CHECK: 100% TRUE. SB 91 took away discretion from judges to impose bail on arrested offenders; instead, bail decisions were set by a “risk assessment tool”, no exceptions. This tool was egregiously flawed, and released nearly all non-felony offenders automatically without any bail whatsoever. Matt Claman defended this policy in an ADN op-ed with former Rep. Chuck Kopp (read it here).

• CLAIM: Matt Claman “[s]upported lighter sentences for nearly all crimes”. FACT-CHECK: 100% TRUE. The ADN noted that “[e]xcept for homicide or sex offenses, SB 91 took away or reduced jail as a penalty for the most common crimes…”. The resulting spike in crime led to a constituent outcry for repeal — but Matt Claman resisted all attempts at increasing sentences.

• CLAIM: Matt Claman “[f]ought AGAINST updating consent laws for over a year — but is trying to take credit for it now”. FACT-CHECK: 100% TRUE. Rep. Geran Tarr’s House Bill 5 (HB 5) provided a much-needed update to the legal definition of consent in the context of sexual assault. While HB 5 had broad support among legislators, Claman held it up for over a year in the House Judiciary Committee, which he chairs. Rather than the usual one or two hearings, he subjected it to ELEVEN hearings — then killed it by replacing it with a watered-down version of his own. When Rep. Tarr had her version amended into another bill in the Senate, however, he covered his tracks by voting to concur — and now brags about this on his literature as though it happened BECAUSE of him, rather than IN SPITE OF him.