ALR Symposium 2018: 60 Years Later | The Alaska Judicial Council & Merit Selection of Judges

The Alaska Judicial Council, created in Article IV, Section 8 of the State’s Constitution, carries out the duties of the merit selection system created by the Constitution. In this presentation, Dosik details the article by herself and Teresa W. Carns describing how the Council developed its procedures from statehood forward, and what they are at the present. Drawing on Council meeting minutes, files, and reports starting with the Council’s first meeting on May 18 and 19, 1959 in Juneau, the article covers all aspects of applying to be considered for judicial positions: the application, investigations, bar surveys, standards for nomination to the governor, interviews, voting, and transmission of results to the governor. The article includes a brief discussion of Council actions to continue to improve the process, and to increase public and bar participation in selection and retention matters, as envisioned at the Constitutional Convention.

The judicial selection and retention provisions of the Alaska Constitution, found in Article IV, achieve a delicate and remarkably successful balance between two competing interests—judicial independence and popular sovereignty. The purpose of this article, written by Brett Frazer and Walter Carpeneti and presented by Frazer, is to describe this constitutional plan, (called “merit selection” because it begins with nomination based on merit alone, as determined by a panel comprised of members of the state bar and the general public), explain why the founders adopted it, examine historical challenges to it, and assess its performance on the 60th anniversary of Alaska statehood. The authors ultimately conclude that Alaska's merit selection system has performed well, insulating judges from the worst of politics while still allowing some democratic controls on the composition of the judiciary.

The symposium is co-sponsored by the UAA Justice Center and the Alaska Law Review in cooperation with the Historians Committee of the Alaska Bar Association

Recorded on October 12, 2018

Appearing: Brett Frazer (Latham & Watkins) and Susan Mason Dosik (Alaska Judicial Council)