Alaska’s Nationally Respected Judicial System Is Under Threat
Alaska’s founders wisely studied the mistakes identified by other states and wrote a constitution they believed would better serve Alaskans. One example: How Alaskans select and retain judges for our state courts.
Instead of running a political campaign to become a judge in Alaska, judicial applicants for an open seat on the bench must undergo a rigorous and comprehensive public vetting process by the independent and nonpartisan Alaska Judicial Council. The Council evaluates applicants’ professional competence, integrity, fairness, and experience. Partisan politics are never taken into account in this comprehensive review. Top applicants are then sent to the Governor for appointment.
The Public Weighs In
To ensure accountability, every judge must also stand for retention several years after appointment – appearing on the ballot during a general election where the public determines whether they retain their seat. Each judge standing for retention must first undergo a rigorous review of their job performance. The Alaska Judicial Council sends questionnaires to law enforcement officers, social workers, attorneys, jurors, and others who have interacted with the judge and solicits public input at hearings. After this extensive process, the Judicial Council summarizes the information, measures the judges against concrete judicial performance standards, and votes on whether to recommend the judge for retention.
The process is transparent and easily accessible to the voters, and it offers Alaskans an opportunity to be well-informed before they vote on each judge’s professional performance.
This ingenious system of checks and balances creates a firewall between partisan politics and the judiciary and has served Alaskans for nearly 70 years. The Alaska process consistently generates high-quality judges who serve with the integrity, temperament, and qualifications needed to decide cases in a fair and impartial manner. When a judge fails to meet these standards, which has happened, they face serious consequences that can include discipline or removal by the Judicial Conduct Commission, or even defeat for retention by the voters.
Disinformation and Voter Apathy
Challenge a Tradition of Success
Despite this long tradition of success, the independence of Alaska’s judiciary is not immune to the forces sweeping the nation that seek to politicize state courts. In the 3rd Judicial District there has been a serious downward trend in judicial retention votes over the past two decades. The 3rd Judicial District, with over two-thirds of the state’s population, runs from Homer through Kenai to Anchorage and Mat-Su, and includes Dillingham, Kodiak, and the Aleutian Chain. In 2022, only 58% of voters in the 3rd Judicial District voted to retain judges on the ballot – a 7% drop from 2020. If “yes” votes fall below 50%, a judge will be removed from the bench.
Experienced, high-quality judges who serve with integrity and follow the law are critical to the quality of our justice system. Ninety-five percent of all litigation occurs in state courts, which are the bulwark against attacks on the rule of law. Efforts to attack judges – not because they’ve failed their review, but because they don’t reflect an interest group’s ideology or have made a tough decision based on the law – jeopardize public trust in Alaska’s judicial system and threaten an orderly path to justice. Politicizing our courts would distort the law, affecting Alaskans on important issues that impact their daily lives, like free speech, education, contractual disputes, and our right to privacy.
Because our justice system and its 70 years of demonstrated integrity and impartiality are at risk, it is important for you to get involved and ensure that others are aware of the threats and challenges to our prized judiciary. We urge you to join our effort: share this newsletter with friends, encourage them to subscribe, and help us protect our courts.
Next time: An exclusive look at voter trends and what they mean to Alaska’s 2024 judicial elections.
Always for integrity, impartiality, and justice in our courts, Alaskans for Fair Courts