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.
The Alaska Court System is the unified,centrally administered,and totally state-funded judicial system for the state of Alaska. The Alaska District Courts are the primary misdemeanor trial courts,the Alaska Superior Courts are the primary felony trial courts,and the Alaska Supreme Court and the Alaska Court of Appeals are the primary appellate courts. The chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court is the administrative head of the Alaska Court System.
The Alaska Court of Appeals is an intermediate court of appeals for criminal cases in the State of Alaska's judicial department,created in 1980 by the Alaska Legislature as an additional appellate court to lessen the burden on the Alaska Supreme Court. The court of appeals consists of a chief judge and three associate judges,who are all appointed by the governor of Alaska and face judicial retention elections every eight years;the chief judge of the court of appeals is selected from among the four by the chief justice of the supreme court to serve a two-year term.
Jay Andrew Rabinowitz was an American lawyer,jurist,and chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court for four non-consecutive terms,remaining active as a justice from February 1965 until his mandatory retirement in February 1997.
Dana Anderson Fabe is an American lawyer,retired judge,and mediator. She served as a justice of the Alaska Supreme Court from 1996 to 2016,including three terms as the court's chief justice. She previously served as an Alaska trial court judge for nearly eight years,from 1988 to 1996. Fabe was the first woman appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court,as well as its first female chief justice.
Francisco Augusto Besosa is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.
David M. Borden was a Connecticut Supreme Court Justice from 1990 to 2007.
Morgan Brenda Christen is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She previously served as a state court judge on the Alaska Supreme Court from 2009 to 2012 and on the Alaska Superior Court from 2002 to 2009.
The Alameda County Superior Court,officially the Superior Court of California,County of Alameda,is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Alameda County as established by Article VI of the Constitution of California. It functions as the trial court for both criminal and civil cases filed in Alameda County.
Goodwin Hon Liu is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California. Before his appointment by California Governor Jerry Brown,Liu was Associate Dean and Professor of Law at the University of California,Berkeley School of Law. Liu has been recognized for his writing on constitutional law,education policy,civil rights,and the Supreme Court.
Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye is an American lawyer and jurist who was the 28th Chief Justice of California and is the president/CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. She was nominated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as chief justice on July 22,2010,and retained in office by California voters on November 2,2010,she was sworn in on January 3,2011 as California's first Filipino and first woman of color to serve as California's Chief Justice. Prior to her appointment as chief justice,Cantil-Sakauye had served in judicial offices on California's appellate and trial courts. On July 27,2022,she announced she would retire and not run for another 12 year term on the court in November and step down on January 1,2023,leaving Governor Newsom to appoint her replacement. On September 28,2022,the Public Policy Institute of California announced that Cantil-Sakauye would become its president and chief executive officer,effective January 1,2023. On September 21,2023,the Judicial Council of California voted unanimously to name the new Sacramento County courthouse after former Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
Warren Wayne Matthews Jr. is an American lawyer and jurist who was a justice of the Alaska Supreme Court from 1977 to 2009. Matthews served as the 8th and 12th chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. His service from May 1977 to April 2009 makes him the second-longest serving justice in Alaska history,slightly less than that of Jay Rabinowitz.
Craig F. Stowers was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice,and the 18th chief justice,of the Alaska Supreme Court. He was appointed by Governor Sean Parnell in 2009 as an associate justice to replace retiring Justice Robert Eastaugh. Stowers was one of seven candidates recommended to the Governor by the Alaska Judicial Council out of a record 25 applicants.
Vince Girdhari Chhabria is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and formerly a deputy city attorney at the San Francisco City Attorney's Office.
Michelle Taryn Friedland is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Warren Olney Jr. was an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from March 1,1919,to July 1921.
Allen Trimble Compton was an American jurist who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Alaska from December 12,1980,until shortly before his death,including serving as the court's chief justice from 1995 to 1997.
John Henry Dimond was an American jurist who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Alaska from August 7,1959 to November 30,1971. He was one of Alaska's inaugural justices,serving along with Buell Nesbett and Walter Hodge on the court's first ever bench. Born in Valdez,Alaska,he was the only son of Anthony Dimond,and was briefly in private practice with his father prior to his death. The state courthouse in his adopted hometown of Juneau,Alaska,located across the street from the Alaska State Capitol,is named in his honor.
Michael Jude Pate is an American lawyer who serves as a justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. He previously served as a judge of the Sitka Superior Court from 2018 to 2023.
