Updates

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...

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Updates

A Plan to Seek the “Best Available Timber”

Greetings from Alaskans for Fair Courts: When delegates first gathered in 1955 to draft Alaska’s constitution, they were determined to craft a system for selecting...

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Opinions

Don’t believe divisive rhetoric, AK’s judicial selection system works

Alaska is a special place. Whether you were born here or moved here, whether you live in a city or off the road system, whatever...

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Opinions

Opposing Politicizing The Judicial Selection Process For AK District & Appellate Courts

Dear Senator Reinbold and Committee Members, We are writing as the members of the Alaska State Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers in...

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Editorials

How Alaska’s judicial selection puts the federal system to shame

There’s not much that’s pretty about national politics these days, but even among a sea of partisan ugliness, the process of selecting judges for the...

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Opinions

Compass: Stacking Alaska Judicial Council would be a mistake

Resolutions have been introduced in the Alaska Senate and House which propose amendments to the Alaska Constitution’s provisions governing the selection of state judges. Those...

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Editorials

The Judicial Council is Not Broken – It Does Not Need to Be Fixed

Dear Legislator: We, former non-attorney members of the Alaska Judicial Council, strongly oppose SJR 3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would introduce politics in to...

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Opinions

We’re former Alaska judges. Here’s why our state’s judicial system is the best option.

Alaska Supreme Court on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. (Bill Roth / ADN) We are proud to have been Alaska judges and we are proud of...

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Updates

Chief Justice Daniel Winfree State of the Judiciary Address 2023

Report to the First Regular Session of the 33rd Alaska Legislature on February 1, 2023 by Chief Justice Daniel E....

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Opinions

Another Reason Not to Support a Constitutional Convention

When Wickersham’s Conscience was a first-year law student, our Civil Procedure professor took us on a field trip to the Cook County Courthouse.1 Even fifty years...

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Opinions

A change to the judicial selection process is a risky endeavor

What makes a good judge? It is a person able to apply the law impartially without regard to politics. A good judge is an experienced...

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Opinions

Be an informed voter on retaining judges

A dear friend surprised me recently when she confided “I always vote no on all the judges on the ballot.” Although my friend is typically...

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