Susanne DiPietro is the director of the Alaska Judicial Council. It\u2019s her job to coordinate the state\u2019s impartial oversight of the state\u2019s judicial system. Even she thinks that Alaska voters don\u2019t pay attention to the bottom of the ballot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe feedback I get from people is they forget about the judges on the ballot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jim Minnery, director of Alaska Family Action, is hoping voters won\u2019t forget about two judges this year. He\u2019s asking them to vote against Alaska Supreme Court judges Joel Bolger and Peter Maassen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sole reason is the ruling they put forth a couple months back,\u201d Minnery said by cellphone.<\/p>\n
In July, Maassen and Bolger joined a majority of justices in ruling against a voter initiative that required the parents of minors seeking an abortion to be notified before that abortion.<\/p>\n
Maassen and Bolger each said the initiative \u2014 approved by 56 percent of voters in August 2010 \u2014 violated the section of the Alaska Constitution that provides privacy protection.<\/p>\n
If Alaskans disagree with that ruling, Minnery wants them to know they have the final word.<\/p>\n
\u201cMainly, we just want the Alaskans who voted know the judges don\u2019t necessarily have the final say, and we can bring this issue back to the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This year in Southeast, voters will be asked their opinions on seven judges \u2014 Southcentral Alaskans have to pick 23. The Alaska Family Action campaign only targets Maassen and Bolger.<\/p>\n
Voting statistics show that Alaskans tend to trail off toward the end of the ballot \u2014 fewer votes are cast on items toward the end (or on the back of) the ballot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just finished finishing the ballot, and there\u2019s a lot of little spaces to fill in, and I can see why people would get finger fatigue,\u201d said Elaine Andrews, a former judge and chairwoman of the Alaska Bar Association\u2019s fair and impartial courts committee.<\/p>\n
The Alaska Judicial Council has recommended that all judges on the ballot be retained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be weird if the Council was recommending against a lot of people,\u201d DiPietro said. \u201cIt would mean something\u2019s wrong with our selection process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrews said she agrees with the state\u2019s \u201cgold-standard\u201d system of vetting judges and analyzing their performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really fair-minded, very in-depth evaluation. There isn\u2019t anyone who does it as well as we do anywhere in the country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In mid-October, Andrews was the co-author of an opinion column that criticized Minnery\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n
By phone, she said Alaskans should want judges who base their arguments on the law, not on religious beliefs. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s a law you don\u2019t like but it\u2019s constitutional, you have to obey it. The court isn\u2019t allowed to set aside constitutional laws because they don\u2019t like them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Minnery said that\u2019s not what he\u2019s arguing: The U.S. Supreme Court has justices of different beliefs and different ideas about how the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to actual philosophy, I think that\u2019s where the people can actually decide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a key difference between the U.S. and Alaska constitutions, Andrews said. The U.S. Constitution is more than 200 years old. Alaska\u2019s constitution is about 60 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the framers; we know what they meant, because some of them are still alive,\u201d she said. \u201cOur constitution is a very current document, and we do not have to guesstimate what the framers thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
Election Day is Tuesday. Early voting continues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays in Juneau at the State Office Building and the Mendenhall Annex.<\/p>\n
\nJoel Bolger<\/strong><\/p>\n Bolger was appointed to the Supreme Court by Gov. Sean Parnell in 2013. The Alaska Judicial Council\u2019s survey of attorneys gave him a rating of 4.6, and its survey of court employees gave him a rating of 4.8, with both ratings on a 5-point scale. Responding to the survey, Bolger said he has written over 60 opinions and memorandum decisions since being appointed, and the experience \u201chas been a great honor.\u201d<\/p>\n Peter Maassen<\/strong><\/p>\n Maassen was appointed to the Supreme Court by Gov. Sean Parnell in 2012. The Alaska Judicial Council\u2019s survey of attorneys gave him a rating of 4.6. A survey of court employees gave him a rating of 4.8. Responding to the Judicial Council survey, Maassen admitted that \u201cthe learning curve was steep\u201d after he was appointed, but he\u2019s become comfortable enough to \u201cbegin my analysis of most issues from a baseline of rough competence.\u201d<\/p>\n Marjorie Allard<\/strong><\/p>\n Allard was appointed to the Alaska Court of Appeals by Gov. Sean Parnell in 2012. The Alaska Judicial Council survey of attorneys gave her a 4.5 rating, while the court employees\u2019 survey rated her 4.7. Allard called the past three years \u201ca turbulent time for the (appeals) court\u201d, which has seen a drastic rise in its caseload during that period. Allard said she has been working \u201chard to address the criminal appellate backlog that still faces our court.\u201d She says she is trying to find solutions for the perennial problem of a slow criminal appeals process.<\/p>\n David George<\/strong><\/p>\n George was appointed to Sitka Superior Court in 2007 by Gov. Sarah Palin. He was recommended for retention by the Judicial Council in 2010 and received 71.19 percent \u201cyes\u201d votes. This year, George received a rating of 3.8 from attorneys, 4.0 from law enforcement officers, 4.3 from social-service workers, 4.3 from court employees and 4.9 from jurors. All rankings were on a 5-point scale. George was below-average on appeals affirmations; 67 percent of his reviewed cases since his last election were upheld on appeal. The statewide average between 2010 and 2015 for Superior Court judges is 79 percent. <\/p>\n In his survey, George said he made a \u201cconcerted effort\u201d in the past year \u201cto make the courtroom more understandable for those people who come to court without an attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he predicts increasing legal costs will lead to a rise in the number of people without an attorney in future years.<\/p>\n Philip Pallenberg<\/strong><\/p>\n Pallenberg was appointed to Juneau Superior Court in 2007 by Gov. Sarah Palin. He was recommended for retention by the Judicial Council in 2010 and received 71.39 percent \u201cyes\u201d votes. This year, Pallenberg received a rating of 4.2 from attorneys, 4.1 from social-service workers, 4.3 from law enforcement, 4.2 from court employees and 4.9 from jurors. Pallenberg was above-average with his rate of appeals affirmations; 90 percent of his reviewed cases since his last election were upheld on appeal.<\/p>\n In his survey, Pallenberg said \u201cthere is a learning curve as a new judge, and I think I make better decisions with the benefit of my experience as a judge.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he enjoys \u201cthe problem-solving aspect of the work, and the feeling that I am making a difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d <\/p>\n Trevor Stephens<\/strong><\/p>\n Stephens was appointed to Ketchikan Superior Court in 2000 by Gov. Tony Knowles. He was retained in the 2004 election with 75.1 percent of the vote and again in 2010 with 75 percent of the vote. This year, he received a rating of 4.6 from attorneys, 4.6 from law enforcement, 4.7 from social-service employees, 4.8 from court employees and 5.0 from jurors.<\/p>\n Since 2010, 89 percent of Stephens\u2019 decisions have been upheld on appeal, which is above average from superior court judges in the present term.<\/p>\n In his survey, Stephens says he enjoys being a Superior Court judge and is \u201cbetter, more knowledgeable and experienced than I was at the start of my present term.\u201d<\/p>\n Stephens, as one of the senior Superior Court judges in the state, frequently trains new judges and teaches youth court programs.<\/p>\n Thomas Nave<\/strong><\/p>\n Nave was appointed to Juneau District Court in 2010 by Gov. Sean Parnell. He received a rating of 4.4 from attorneys, 4.5 from law enforcement, 4.6 from court employees and 4.9 from jurors in the Judicial Council survey. Only two of his decisions were appealed, and both were upheld on appeal.<\/p>\n In his survey, Nave said some aspects of his job presented challenges and required study, but he called himself \u201ccomfortable with my performance of the past five years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am well-received by the Bar as well as law enforcement and jurors,\u201d he wrote. \u201cDefendants respond to me when I engage them. \u2026 I would have been comfortable appearing before a judge with my attitude and demeanor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Susanne DiPietro is the director of the Alaska Judicial Council. It\u2019s her job to coordinate the state\u2019s impartial oversight of the state\u2019s judicial system. Even she thinks that Alaska voters don\u2019t pay attention to the bottom of the ballot. \u201cThe feedback I get from people is they forget about the judges on the ballot,\u201d she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[230],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-13784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/426"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13784"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=13784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}