United States District Court for the District of Alaska | |
---|---|
(D. Alaska) | |
Location | Anchorage |
Appeals to | Ninth Circuit |
Established | January 3, 1959 |
Judges | 3 |
Chief Judge | Sharon L. Gleason |
Officers of the court | |
U.S. Attorney | S. Lane Tucker |
U.S. Marshal | Robert Heun |
www |
The United States District Court for the District of Alaska (in case citations, D. Alaska) is a federal court that appeals to the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).
The District was established on July 7, 1958, pending Alaska statehood on January 3, 1959. [1]
The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of April 25,2022 [update] the United States attorney is S. Lane Tucker. [2]
The United States District Court for the District of Alaska is the sole federal judicial district in Alaska. [3] Court for the district is held at Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. In 2021, the court discontinued the use of courthouses in Ketchikan and Nome. [4]
As of July 8,2024 [update] :
# | Title | Judge | Duty station | Born | Term of service | Appointed by | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Active | Chief | Senior | ||||||
11 | Chief Judge | Sharon L. Gleason | Anchorage | 1957 | 2012–present | 2022–present | — | Obama |
13 | District Judge | vacant | — | — | — | — | — | — |
14 | District Judge | vacant | — | — | — | — | — | — |
5 | Senior Judge | H. Russel Holland | Anchorage | 1936 | 1984–2001 | 1989–1995 | 2001–present | Reagan |
7 | Senior Judge | James K. Singleton | inactive | 1939 | 1990–2005 | 1995–2002 | 2005–present | G.H.W. Bush |
8 | Senior Judge | John W. Sedwick | Anchorage | 1946 | 1992–2011 | 2002–2009 | 2011–present | G.H.W. Bush |
9 | Senior Judge | Ralph Beistline | Anchorage | 1948 | 2002–2015 | 2009–2015 | 2015–present | G.W. Bush |
10 | Senior Judge | Timothy M. Burgess | Anchorage | 1956 | 2006–2021 | 2015–2021 | 2021–present | G.W. Bush |
Seat | Prior judge's duty station | Seat last held by | Vacancy reason | Date of vacancy | Nominee | Date of nomination |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Anchorage | Timothy M. Burgess | Senior status | December 31, 2021 | – | – |
1 | Joshua Kindred | Resignation | July 8, 2024 | – | – |
# | Judge | State | Born–died | Active service | Chief Judge | Senior status | Appointed by | Reason for termination |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Walter Hartman Hodge | AK | 1896–1975 | 1960–1966 | 1961–1966 | 1966–1975 | Eisenhower | death |
2 | Raymond Eugene Plummer | AK | 1913–1987 | 1961–1973 | 1966–1973 | 1973–1987 | Kennedy | death |
3 | James von der Heydt | AK | 1919–2013 | 1966–1984 | 1973–1984 | 1984–2013 | L. Johnson | death |
4 | James Martin Fitzgerald | AK | 1920–2011 | 1974–1989 | 1984–1989 | 1989–2011 | Ford | death |
6 | Andrew Kleinfeld | AK | 1945–present | 1986–1991 | — | — | Reagan | elevation to 9th Cir. |
12 | Joshua Kindred | AK | 1977–present | 2020–2024 | — | — | Trump | resignation |
Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.
A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.
When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.
|
|
|
From 1884 through 1959, the highest court in Alaska was a United States territorial court. In 1900, the court was enlarged from one to three judges, with each judge having a district. From 1900 till 1909, the districts were Juneau (First), Nome (Second), and Fairbanks (Third). In 1909, a fourth district and judge was added. From 1909 till 1959, the districts were Juneau (First), Nome (Second), Valdez and Anchorage (Third), and Fairbanks (Fourth). [5]
# | District | Seat | Judge | State | Born–died | Active service | Appointed by | Reason for termination |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | — | Sitka and Wrangell | Ward McAllister Jr. | CA | 1855–1908 | 1884–1885 | Arthur | dismissal |
2 | — | Sitka and Wrangell | E. J. Dawne | OR | 1844–? | 1885 | Cleveland | dismissal |
3 | — | Sitka and Wrangell | Lafayette Dawson | MO | 1839–1897 | 1885–1888 | Cleveland | resignation |
4 | — | Sitka and Wrangell | John H. Keatley | IA | 1838–1905 | 1888–1889 | Cleveland | resignation |
5 | — | Sitka and Wrangell | John S. Bugbee | 1840–1896 | 1889–1892 | B. Harrison | ||
6 | — | Sitka and Wrangell | Warren D. Truitt | 1855–1935 | 1892–1897 | B. Harrison | ||
7 | — | Sitka and Wrangell | Arthur Delaney | 1841–1905 | 1895–1897 | Cleveland | dismissal | |
8 | — | Sitka and Wrangell | Charles S. Johnson | 1854–1906 | 1897–1900 | McKinley | ||
9 | — 1 | Sitka and Wrangell | Melville C. Brown | 1838–1928 | 1900 1900–1904 | McKinley | ||
10 | 2 | Nome | Arthur H. Noyes | 1853–1915 | 1900–1902 | McKinley | ||
11 | 3 | Fairbanks | James Wickersham | 1857–1939 | 1900–1907 | McKinley | ||
12 | 2 | Nome | Alfred S. Moore | 1846–1920 | 1902–1910 | T. Roosevelt | ||
13 | 1 | Sitka and Wrangell (to 1906) Juneau (from 1906) | Royal Arch Gunnison | 1873–1918 | 1904–1909 | T. Roosevelt | ||
14 | 3 | Fairbanks | Silas H. Reid | 1870–1911 | 1908–1909 | T. Roosevelt | ||
15 | 1 | Juneau | Thomas R. Lyons | 1867–1941 | 1909–1913 | Taft | ||
16 | 3 | Valdez and Anchorage | Edward E. Cushman | 1865–1944 | 1909–1912 | Taft | ||
17 | 4 3 | Fairbanks Valdez and Anchorage | Pete Overfield | 1874–1959 | 1909–1912 1912–1913 | Taft | ||
18 | 2 | Nome | Cornelius D. Murane | 1867–1951 | 1910–1913 | Taft | ||
19 | 4 | Fairbanks | Frederic E. Fuller | 1868–1953 | 1912–1914 | Taft | ||
20 | 1 | Juneau | Robert W. Jennings | 1864–1937 | 1913–1921 | Wilson | ||
21 | 3 | Valdez and Anchorage | Frederick M. Brown | 1864–1946 | 1913–1921 | Wilson | ||
22 | 2 | Nome | John Randolph Tucker | 1854–1926 | 1913–1917 | Wilson | ||
23 | 4 | Fairbanks | Charles E. Bunnell | 1878–1956 | 1915–1921 | Wilson | ||
24 | 2 | Nome | William A. Holzheimer | 1870–1948 | 1917–1921 | Wilson | ||
25 | 3 | Valdez and Anchorage | Elmer E. Ritchie | 1861–1941 | 1921–1927 | Harding | ||
26 | 2 | Nome | Gudbrand J. Lomen | 1854–1934 | 1921–1932 | Harding | ||
27 | 1 | Juneau | Thomas M. Reed | 1857–1928 | 1921–1928 | Harding | ||
28 | 4 3 | Fairbanks Valdez and Anchorage | Cecil H. Clegg | 1873–1956 | 1921–1932 1932–1934 | Harding | ||
29 | 3 4 | Valdez and Anchorage Fairbanks | E. Coke Hill | 1866–1961 | 1927–1932 1932–1935 | Coolidge | ||
30 | 1 | Juneau | Justin Woodward Harding | 1888–1976 | 1929–1934 | Coolidge | ||
31 | 2 | Nome | Lester O. Gore | 1890–1965 | 1932–1934 | Hoover | ||
32 | 1 | Juneau | George F. Alexander | 1882–1948 | 1933–1947 | F. Roosevelt | ||
33 | 3 | Valdez and Anchorage | Simon Hellenthal | 1877–1955 | 1935–1945 | F. Roosevelt | ||
34 | 4 | Fairbanks | Harry Emerson Pratt | 1884–1957 | 1935–1954 | F. Roosevelt | ||
35 | 2 | Nome | J. H. S. Morison | 1864–1952 | 1935–1944 | F. Roosevelt | ||
36 | 2 | Nome | Joseph W. Kehoe | 1890–1959 | 1944–1951 | F. Roosevelt | ||
37 | 3 | Valdez and Anchorage | Anthony Dimond | 1881–1953 | 1945–1953 | F. Roosevelt | ||
38 | 1 | Juneau | George W. Folta | 1893–1955 | 1947–1955 | Truman | death | |
39 | 2 | Nome | J. Earl Cooper | 1907–1964 | 1952–1953 | Truman | ||
40 | 3 | Valdez and Anchorage | J. L. McCarrey Jr. | 1906–1992 | 1953–1959 | Eisenhower | court dissolution | |
41 | 2 | Nome | Walter Hartman Hodge | 1896–1975 | 1954–1959 | Eisenhower | court dissolution | |
42 | 4 | Fairbanks | Vernon D. Forbes | 1905–1990 | 1954–1959 | Eisenhower | court dissolution | |
43 | 1 | Juneau | Raymond J. Kelly | 1894–1979 | 1955–1959 | Eisenhower | court dissolution |
DISTRICT OF ALASKA, SITKA (1884-1898) E. W. Haskett (1884-1885) Mottrone D. Ball (1885-1887) Whitaker M. Grant (1887-1889) John C. Watson (1889) Charles S. Johnson (1889-1894) Lytton Taylor (1894-1895) Burton E. Bennett (1895-1898)
Three Judicial Districts Created: June 6, 1900 First District Juneau Robert A. Frederick (1898-1902) Thomas R. Lyons (1902-1903) John J. Boyce (1903-1910) John Rustgard (1910-1914 John J. Reagan (1914-1915) James A. Smiser (1915-1921) Arthur G. Shoup (1921-1927) Justin W. Harding (1927-1929) Howard D. Stabler (1929-1933) William A. Holzheimer (1933-1944) Lynn J. Gemmill (1944) Robert L. Jernberg (1944-1945) Robert L. Tollefson (1945-1946) Patrick J. Gilmore, Jr (1946-1954) Theodore E. Munson (1954-1956) Roger G. Connor (1956) C. Donald O’Connor (1956)
Second District Nome Joseph K. Wood (1900-1901) John L. McGinn (1901-1902) Melvin Grigsby (1902-1903) John L. McGinn (1903-1904) Henry M. Hoyt (1904-1908) George B. Grigsby (1908-1910) Bernard S. Rodey (1910-1913) F. M. Saxton (1913-1917) G. B. Mundy (1917-1918) Gudbrand J. Lomen (1918-1919) J. M. Clements (1919-1921) Wm. Frederick Harrison (1921-1929) Julius H. Hart (1929-1931) Leroy M. Sullivan (1931-1933) Hugh O’Neill (1933-1939) Charles J. Clasky (1939-1944) Frank C. Bingham (1944-1951) James A. von der Heydt (1951-1953) Russell B. Hermann (1953)
THIRD DISTRICT Eagle, Fairbanks, Valdez, Anchorage Alfred M. Post (1900-1901) Nathan V. Harlan (1901-1908) James J. Crossley (1908-1909) Corneilus D. Murane (1909-1910) George R. Walker (1910-1914) William N. Spence (1914-1917) William A. Munly (1917-1921) Sherman Duggan (1921-1925) Frank H. Foster (1925-1926) William D. Coppernoll (1926-1928) Warren N. Cuddy [7] (1928-1933) Joseph W. Kehoe (1933-1942) Noel K. Wennblom (1942-1946) Raymond E. Plummer .... 1946-1949 Joseph E. Cooper (1949-1952) Seaborn J. Buckalew, Jr. (1952-1953) William J. Plummer (1953-1960)
Fourth District, Fairbanks James J. Crossley (1909-1914) Rhinehart F. Roth (1914-1921) Guy B. Erwin (1921-1924) Julien A. Hurley (1924-1933) Ralph J. Rivers (1933-1944) Harry O. Arend (1944-1949) Everett W. Hepp (1950-1952) Robert J. McNealy (1952-1953) Theodore F. Stevens (1954-1956) George M. Yeager (1956-1960)
ALASKA ADMITTED TO STATEHOOD JANUARY 2, 1959
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the US state of Alaska. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded in the 2020 census, up from 3,598 in 2010. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901. It was once the most-populous city in Alaska. Nome lies within the region of the Bering Straits Native Corporation, which is headquartered in Nome.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and Richmond metro areas and surrounding locations with courthouses located in Alexandria, Norfolk, Richmond and Newport News.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Philadelphia as the United States District Court for the District of Pennsylvania, and is now located at the James Byrne Courthouse at 601 Market Street in Philadelphia. There are five Eastern District federal courtrooms in Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Lancaster, Allentown, Reading, and Easton.
The United States District Court for the Central District of California is a federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in Southern and Central California, making it the most populous federal judicial district. The district was created on September 18, 1966. Cases from the Central District are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Along with the Central District of Illinois, the court is the only district court referred to by the name "Central" – all other courts with similar geographical names instead use the term "Middle."
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee is the federal district court covering the western part of the state of Tennessee. Appeals from the Western District of Tennessee are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The first court session was held in Boston in 1789. The second term was held in Salem in 1790 and court session locations alternated between the two cities until 1813. That year, Boston became the court's permanent home. A western division was opened in Springfield in 1979 and a central division was opened in Worcester in 1987. The court's main building is the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse on Fan Pier in South Boston.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia is a United States district court.
The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina is a federal district court which covers the western third of North Carolina.
James Wickersham was a district judge for Alaska, appointed by U.S. President William McKinley to the Third Judicial District in 1900. He resigned his post in 1908 and was subsequently elected as Alaska's delegate to Congress, serving until 1917 and then being re-elected in 1930. He was instrumental in the passage of the Organic Act of 1912, which granting Alaska territorial status. He also introduced the Alaska Railroad Bill, legislation to establish McKinley Park, and the first Alaska Statehood Bill in 1916. He was among those responsible for the creation of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, which later became the University of Alaska. A residence hall on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus is named in his honor.
The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court for the U.S. state of Alaska. Its decisions are binding on all other Alaska state courts, and the only court its decisions may be appealed to is the Supreme Court of the United States. The Alaska Supreme Court hears appeals from lower state courts and also administers the state's judicial system.
Anthony Joseph Dimond was an American Democratic Party politician who was the Alaska Territory Delegate in the United States House of Representatives from 1933 to 1945. Dimond was also an early champion of Alaska statehood.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana is a United States federal court based in New Orleans.
James Arnold von der Heydt was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska.
Timothy Mark Burgess is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. He served as the District of Alaska's U.S. Attorney from 2001 to 2005.
James Martin Fitzgerald was an American lawyer and judge. He served as an associate justice of the Alaska Supreme Court from 1972 to 1975, and resigned that position when he was appointed to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Alaska:
The history of the Jews in Alaska began before the Alaska Purchase in 1867. Jews from Imperial Russia lived there periodically as fur traders, and a Jewish community has existed since the 1880s. The Klondike and Nome gold rushes attracted Jews to Alaska to seek their fortunes as miners and businessmen and resulted in the first organized Jewish communities. In the Nazi period, Jewish refugee resettlement in Alaska was seriously considered by the government, but after facing backlash, never came to be. Alaskan Jews played a significant role in business and politics before and after statehood, and have included mayors, judges, senators and governors. Today, there are Jews living in every urban area of the state.
Laura Mae Bergt was an Iñupiaq athlete, model, politician, and activist for the Iñupiat and other Indigenous Alaskans. Born in the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska to bi-racial parents, she grew up in Nome and Kotzebue before attending high school in Sitka. Involved in the Native Olympic movement, she was both a nine-times winner of the Arctic Circle blanket toss event and served as chair of the World Eskimo Indian Olympics in 1966. She worked as a promoter for the new state of Alaska attending trade shows and making marketing appearances as a spokeswoman and guest on radio and television programs. From the 1960s, she worked in various policy positions at the tribal, local, state, and national level to address issues like disability, education, employment opportunities, housing, and poverty, and promoting the rights of Indigenous people.