Proposal would change makeup of Alaska Judicial Council

02.19.2014

JUNEAU, Alaska - Several Republican state senators are looking at changing the makeup of the commission charged with vetting judicial candidates from which the governor would select a judge.

Sen. Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks, wants public members to outnumber attorneys on the Judicial Council. He says the current list has no regional diversity, Alaska Public Radio Network reported (http://bit.ly/1h1Aj95).

"It reads like an urban Alaskan phonebook," Kelly said. "Attorney members: Ketchikan, Ketchikan, Juneau, Juneau, Juneau, Juneau, Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Anchorage, Anchorage, Anchorage."

Kelly wants to see public members outnumber attorneys two-to-one. The change would increase the number of lawyers on the council from three to five and increase the public members from three to 10.

Since statehood, the Judicial Council has been made up of three attorneys, three public members and the chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court.

Kelly also expressed a secondary concern with the current formula. He said when the public members and attorney members are split, the chief justice has sided with the lawyers in a little over half those cases. He thinks that creates a conflict of interest for the chief justice.

"They can, with their vote, choose people who think the way they think," Kelly said. "So you have a potential molding of the (Alaska) Supreme Court by members of the (Alaska) Supreme Court. It puts them in an incredible position of power."

In the last 30 years, there have been 15 situations where the public members and the attorneys have been divided on a judicial candidate.

But Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, said those instances can still spark controversy. "It doesn't sit well with the public, and it has created tremendous acrimony," she said.

Because the Judicial Council has so much influence over which judges the governor appoints, it has been at times a lightning rod in recent years.

In 2009, two applicants for judicial posts tried suing the state because they took issue with the nominating process.

In 2012, a conservative advocacy group, Alaska Family Action, filed a complaint against the council, arguing that the council shouldn't be able to campaign on behalf of judges. The case concerned the retention of Anchorage Superior Court Judge Sen Tan, who received high marks from the Judicial Council but was targeted for removal by Alaska Family Action because of his ruling in a case involving the state's abortion laws.

Last year, Kelly introduced a separate bill to prevent the council from doing just that.

State Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage and a former prosecutor, doesn't see a need to change the council, adding Alaska has a strong judiciary.

"But it may be that certain activist groups out in the public are unhappy with the way our constitution is interpreted, and they want to tip the scales in their favor," French said.

The proposal would require a constitutional amendment.

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