Alaska Republican U.S. Senator. Dan Sullivan has picked the nine-member panel that will help him choose candidates for a vacant Federal judgeship for Alaska by avoiding the usual selection process.
In a statement written by the council, Sullivan said the new Alaska Federal Judiciary Council will assist “identify federal judges with quality, experience and unflinching dedication for the law of the land.”
Alaska’s top senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, has said that talks regarding changing the way that they select candidates “should have begun in the past” and said that changing processes could delay the period that Alaska has no federal judges.
Three districts in the federal court is unoccupied since the resignation of judge Timothy Burgess at the close of 2021.
Federal judges are appointed for life. They are officially appointed by the President, and are they are subject to confirmation from the U.S. Senate.
Tradition and custom dictate that senators from home states propose a list of nominees to the president who chooses the nominees from the list to minimize the possibility that the candidate is rejected through one senators from the state.
Senators from Alaska have depended on the advice of the Alaska Bar Association to inform their selections for seats that are vacant on the bench of the judiciary.
In March, in response to an inquiry from Murkowski The Alaska Bar Association asked interested attorneys to send resumes and other documents.
There were 14 applicants The bar conducted a poll of the other state attorneys by asking a single question: Is the applicant suitable for the job?
The four candidates with the highest percentage of most positive responses are Anchorage Superior Court Judge Yvonne Lamoureux, U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker, Stoel Rives partner Tina Grovier, and Alaska Solicitor General Tamara DeLucia.
The Bar Association sent those names to Murkowski and Sullivan in May, along with an email in which senators were asked to make sure “that the nomination process is completed as quickly as is possible.”
Murkowski in a statement that was published on Wednesday, stated that she’s consulted with candidates since then and is now ready to take a few decisions.
“My process is complete,” Murkowski said in an email on Wednesday. “Alaskans have had enough time to wait that the court of district function at its full capacity. I am looking forward to seeing the appointment being made without delay.”
Sullivan takes an entirely different approach.
Research has revealed a strong and increasing correlation with education levels and political opinions: Americans with college degrees tend to be Democratic over Republican and the trend is more pronounced for Americans who have advanced degrees.
In part, due to that trend, conservatives are becoming more skeptical of the role the bar association -made up of lawyers who have advanced degrees in non-partisan judicial selection procedures.
The Alaska Legislature, Republicans -including Governor. Mike Dunleavy — have repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to change the role the non-partisan Alaska Judicial Council plays in the selection of judges.
This council is composed of three members elected by the public and three attorneys chosen by the bar and the chief justice who is elected only to break the tie.
The new council of Sullivan is a bit like similar to Alaska Judicial Council, except that the nine members were selected by the Sullivan alone.
In the list of those selected are a number of lawyers among them former Gov. Sean Parnell, former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman Sean Parnell, former Lieutenant-Governor Loren Leman Jonathan Katchen, who was considered for an earlier Alaska federal judgeship, but later withdrew his candidature.
The council is comprised of non-attorneys for example, Kim Reitmier, president of the ANCSA Regional Association, and attorneys who aren’t recognized as members of the Alaska Bar, such as Stephen Cox, a participant to the conservatism-oriented Federalist Society who works as general counsel and senior vice president of Bristol Bay Industrial.
Sullivan’s statement didn’t include any timeline for his presidential nominations.
“The magnitude of federal judges’ responsibilities requires a thorough look-up of potential candidates, a thorough review of their past records as well as the input of the people who will be the most affected by their decisions–Alaskans,” he said. “With this diverse and inclusive council, we’ve gathered not just some of the sharpest lawyers in Alaska and judges, but also people who have a thorough understanding of the important aspects of Alaska which includes criminal victims, law enforcement resource development, as well as Alaska Native communities.”
The federal judicial nomination process isn’t always smooth. When Alaska was in a vacancy it took nearly five years until confirmation by the U.S. Senate confirmed the former Department of Interior attorney Josh Kindred.
Of the 72 vacancies currently open within the Federal judiciary system, Alaska’s ranks as the 19th-oldest. The oldest date is from the year 2017.
With only one vacant seat, the burden of filling it falls to the Alaskan panel comprising five “senior” judges, who have officially quit the bench, but are able to hear cases as they need to.
The article first appeared in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
