List of justices of the Alaska Supreme Court
Appearance
This is a list of persons who have served as justices of the Alaska Supreme Court.
List of associate justices
Justice | Hometown | Born | Died | Began term | Ended term | Appt. by Governor |
Replaced | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buell Arthur Nesbett | Anchorage | June 2, 1910 | August 17, 1993 | August 1959 | March 1970 | Egan | N/A | State courthouse in Anchorage is named after him. |
John Henry Dimond | Juneau | December 28, 1918 | June 1985 | August 1959 | November 30, 1971 | Egan | N/A | Son of Anthony Dimond. State courthouse in Juneau is named after him. |
Walter Hartman Hodge | Nome | August 29, 1896 | July 12, 1975 | August 1959 | March 1960 | Egan | N/A | Appointed to federal judgeship. |
Harry Oscar Arend | Fairbanks | October 26, 1903 | June 28, 1966 | May 1960 | January 1965 | Egan | Hodge | Lost retention election in 1964, the only justice to have done so. |
Jay Andrew Rabinowitz | Fairbanks | February 25, 1927 | June 16, 2001 | March 8, 1965 | February 28, 1997 | Egan | Arend | Appointed to what has become known colloquially as "the Fairbanks seat." Longest-serving justice. State courthouse in Fairbanks is named after him. |
Roger G. Connor | Anchorage[1] | April 23, 1926 | July 4, 1999 | December 2, 1968 | May 1, 1983 | Hickel | N/A | |
George Frank Boney | Anchorage | July 3, 1930 | August 30, 1972 | December 2, 1968 | August 30, 1972 | Hickel | N/A | Died in office as a result of a boating accident near Houston. State courthouse in Anchorage (one of two, and the one in which the court's sessions are held) is named after him. |
Robert Cecil Erwin | Anchorage[2] | December 29, 1934 | January 24, 2020 | August 1970 | April 1977 | Miller | Nesbett | Younger brother of William Matthews Erwin, who represented the eastern Kenai Peninsula in the 1st and 2nd state legislatures. Was the only Alaskan-born justice until the 2007 appointment of Daniel Winfree. |
Robert Boochever | Juneau | October 2, 1917 | October 9, 2011 | March 22, 1972 | October 1980 | Egan | Dimond | Appointed to what has become known colloquially as "the Juneau seat." Appointed to federal judgeship. |
James Martin Fitzgerald | Anchorage | October 7, 1920 | April 3, 2011 | December 1972 | March 1975 | Egan | Boney | Appointed to federal judgeship. |
Edmond W. Burke | Anchorage | September 7, 1935 | March 31, 2020 | April 4, 1975 | December 1993 | Hammond | Fitzgerald | |
Warren W. Matthews Jr. | Anchorage | April 5, 1939 | still living | May 26, 1977 | April 5, 2009 | Hammond | Erwin | Second-longest-serving justice. |
Allen T. Compton | Juneau | February 25, 1938 | October 11, 2008 | December 12, 1980 | November 1998 | Hammond | Boochever | Appointed to what has become known colloquially as "the Juneau seat." |
Daniel Alton Moore Jr. | Anchorage | 1934 | still living | July 10, 1983 | December 1995 | Sheffield | Connor | |
Robert Ladd Eastaugh | Anchorage | November 12, 1943 | still living | April 18, 1994 | November 2, 2009 | Hickel | Burke | Grandson of R. E. Robertson. |
Dana Anderson Fabe | Anchorage | March 29, 1951 | still living | January 1996 | June 2016 | Knowles | Moore | First female justice. |
Alex Bryner | Anchorage | 1943 | still living | February 1997 | October 2007 | Knowles | Rabinowitz | Original member of the Alaska Court of Appeals. Previous to that, was U.S. attorney for Alaska. |
Walter L. Carpeneti | Juneau | December 1, 1945 | still living | November 1998 | January 2013 | Knowles | Compton | Commonly known by the nickname "Bud." Appointed to what has become known colloquially as "the Juneau seat." |
Daniel Winfree | Fairbanks | ca. February 1953 | still living | January 2008 | incumbent | Palin | Bryner | Appointed to what has become known colloquially as "the Fairbanks seat." |
Morgan Christen | Anchorage | December 5, 1961 | still living | April 5, 2009 | January 10, 2012 | Palin | Matthews | Appointed to federal judgeship. |
Craig F. Stowers | Anchorage | June 11, 1954 | still living | December 3, 2009 | June 1, 2020 | Parnell | Eastaugh | Served as chief justice from 2015–2018 |
Peter J. Maassen | Anchorage | January 14, 1955 | still living | August 2012 | incumbent | Parnell | Christen | |
Joel Bolger | Anchorage | February 16, 1955 | still living | February 1, 2013 | incumbent | Parnell | Carpeneti | First justice to have served as a judge on every level of the Alaska judiciary |
Susan M. Carney | Fairbanks | 1962 | still living | June 2016 | incumbent | Walker | Fabe | |
Dario Borghesan | Fairbanks | December 11, 1979 | still living | July 1, 2020 | incumbent | Dunleavy | Stowers |
List of chief justices
The Supreme Court had only one chief justice, Buell Nesbett, during its first decade of existence. Alaska voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1970, months after Nesbett's retirement, which set the current limits for chief justices, namely that they are allowed to serve three-year non-consecutive terms. Chief justices have included:
Name | Term started | Term ended | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Buell A. Nesbett | 1959 | 1970 | |
George Frank Boney | May 8, 1970 | August 30, 1972 | Was the youngest chief justice of any state supreme court at the time.[3] Died in office. |
Jay Rabinowitz | September 25, 1972 | 1975 | |
Robert Boochever | 1975 | 1978 | |
Jay Rabinowitz | October 1978 | 1981 | |
Edmond W. Burke | 1981 | 1984 | |
Jay Rabinowitz | 1984 | 1987 | |
Warren Matthews | 1987 | 1990 | |
Jay Rabinowitz | 1990 | 1992 | |
Daniel Alton Moore Jr. | 1992 | 1996 | |
Allen T. Compton | 1994[4] | 1997 | |
Warren Matthews | 1997 | 2000 | |
Dana Fabe | 2000 | 2003 | |
Alex Bryner | 2003 | 2006 | |
Dana Fabe | 2006 | 2009 | |
Walter L. Carpeneti | 2009 | 2012 | |
Dana Fabe | 2012 | 2015 | |
Craig Stowers | 2015 | 2018 | |
Joel H. Bolger | 2018 | incumbent |
Retention election history
Election Year | Justice Name | Yes Votes | Percentage | No Votes | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1962 | Nesbett | 37,872 | 72.07 | 14,679 | 27.93 |
Dimond | 38,873 | 73.41 | 14,083 | 26.59 | |
1964 | Arend | 29,884 | 46.74 | 34,055 | 53.26 |
1968 | Rabinowitz | 48,484 | 65.27 | 25,802 | 34.73 |
1972 | Connor | 63,502 | 72.78 | 23,752 | 27.22 |
1974 | Erwin | 54,907 | 67.48 | 26,460 | 32.52 |
1976 | Boochever | 73,062 | 67.31 | 35,476 | 32.69 |
1978 | Burke | 73,841 | 68.60 | 33,806 | 31.40 |
Rabinowitz | 72,978 | 67.76 | 34,729 | 32.24 | |
1980 | Matthews | 75,991 | 53.48 | 66,095 | 46.52 |
1982 | Connor | 104,275 | 61.51 | 65,240 | 38.49 |
1984 | Compton | 125,759 | 54,968 | ||
1986 | Moore | 107,420 | 48,159 | ||
1988 | Burke | 124,827 | 46,124 | ||
Rabinowitz | 100,789 | 69,707 | |||
1990 | Matthews | 110,036 | 58,897 |
References
- ^ Was raised in Juneau and resided there until just months before his appointment to the court.
- ^ Was born and raised in Seward.
- ^ Mitchell, Elaine B., ed. (1973). "Alaska Court System". Alaska Blue Book (First ed.). Juneau: Alaska Department of Education, Division of State Libraries. p. 99.
- ^ http://juneauempire.com/stories/101708/obi_345354374.shtml#.Vd0adlNVhBc
External links
The justices of the Alaska Supreme Court on Ballotpedia