On Nov. 5, Alaskans will vote to either retain or remove 19 judges from across the state. Thanks to current state law, these periodic retention elections are the only time residents have any say over who sits on the bench. Unfortunately, most voters know very little of the judges before they head to the polls.
The notoriously liberal Alaska Judicial Council recommends Alaskans vote to keep all 19 judges. Their voter guide, however, focuses on generic qualities such as temperament, fairness and knowledge of the law, while failing to give voters details about judges affiliations and past rulings.
In an effort to assist Alaskans in casting their votes, the Alaska Watchman has compiled some additional background information on 8 of the 19 judges up for retention. This is by no means exhaustive, and in some cases we were only able to find a few details to assist voters in making a decision. The information below comes from judges’ applications to serve on the bench along with research into their past rulings and affiliations. There is considerably more information on some judges than others. Behind each name we include our recommendation.
We have provided no recommendation on 11 judges, simply because there was very little helpful information on which to make a judgement.
ALASKA SUPREME COURT JUDGE DARIO BORGHESAN (VOTE NO)
Appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2020, Borghesan once worked for the far-left ACLU of Michigan in 2007.
As a sitting Alaska Supreme Court Justice, he voted to uphold the state’s claim that it had the right to forcibly capture, handcuff, isolate and quarantine a Bethel man who tested positive for Covid in October of 2020. That same year, he voted to uphold a lower court ruling against Alaska’s law that seeks to maintain the integrity of absentee voting by requiring the signature of one witness to verify the identity of the absentee voter. The ruling ordered the state to abandon its long-standing practice of requiring an absentee voter to sign their ballot in the presence of someone who is age 18 years or older and to have that person sign as a witness to attest to the identity of the voter.
ALASKA SUPREME COURT JUDGE JENNIFER STUART HENDERSON (VOTE NO)
Judge Henderson ruled in favor of the ACLU lawsuit against Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto of $334,700 from the Alaska Court System after the Alaska Supreme Court ordered the state to pay that amount for publicly funded abortions. She ruled against the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. By doing so, she implied that the court actually has the power to declare that the governor’s line-item veto is unconstitutional, and that the judicial branch of government actually has the power to order a restoration of funds to its own budget, an act which is constitutionally delegated only to the Legislature.
While studying at Yale Law, she was the editor of the liberal Yale Journal of Law & Feminism. Her personal references when applying for the Superior Court included Rep. Lindsey Holmes (former pro-abortion legislator) and James Torgerson (a former Bar member of the Alaska Judicial Council, and the husband of Judge Morgan Christen, the Obama-appointed judge on the 9th Circuit, who once served as a Board member for Planned Parenthood of Alaska.
SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE ADOLF ZEMAN, Anchorage (VOTE NO)
Judge Adolf Zeman issued a ruling this past April which threatened to undermine the state’s popular homeschool allotment program. While his erroneous ruling was eventually rejected and overturned by the Alaska Supreme Court, it created massive confusion and instability for roughly 24,000 students and their families just months before the start of the current school year.
In correcting Zeman’s flawed decision, the Supreme Court rejected his claim that the state’s entire homeschool allotment program should be discarded because some families use the funding to provide their children with educational opportunities at private or religious schools.
Zeman claimed it was unconstitutional to spend public funds at private or religious educational intuitions or organizations, because the Alaska Constitution forbids the use of public funds for the “direct benefit” of such entities.
Defenders of the homeschool program argued that the allotments only “indirectly” benefit private and religious schools, since the money is given to the parents, who could have spent the funds in myriad ways. They compared it to families who may decide to spend part of their annual Permanent Fund Dividend money on such schools.
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE LESLIE DICKSON, Anchorage (VOTE NO)
Judge Dickson has worked for the radical legal activist group ACLU on its Prisoner Assistant Project.
One of her most public decisions came in 2019 when she fined Anchorage Grubstake Auction owner Ron Alleva $6,500 for using pool cleaner on a site used by homeless people at the border of his property. Dickson also ordered Grubstake Auction, to pay a $35,000 fine. Alleva is a longtime critic of Anchorage’s failed homeless policy. He said he was trying to clean up human feces, vomit and rotting food along his property line.
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE KARI MCCREA, Anchorage (VOTE NO)
Judge McCrea served as the Fairness Diversity and Equality Committee Chair, a program of the Alaska Supreme Court which promotes diversity in its many forms. She also served as a board member for the YWCA of Alaska which partners with Planned Parenthood and LGBTQ activist groups in Alaska.
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE DAVID WALLACE, Anchorage (VOTE YES)
Judge Wallace has served on the school board for Grace Christian School in Anchorage and has also served on the board of a Christian-based nonprofit called RightWay Automotive. That group assists those in need with auto repairs.
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE PAMELA WASHINGTON, Anchorage (VOTE YES)
Judge Washington has served as vice chairman for the pro-life Crisis Pregnancy Center in Anchorage, which provides women with pro-life alternatives to abortion. Washington has also been a volunteer with Faith Christian Community, a faith-based outreach to inmates in Alaska.
COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE TIMOTHY TERRELL (VOTE YES)
Judge Timothy Terrell is an active member of St. John Orthodox Cathedral in Eagle River, and a lifetime member of the Order of St. Ignatius, an organization that supports charitable works of the church. He has also volunteered at the conservative, faith-based Anchorage Gospel Rescue Center, as well as the pro-life Pregnancy Resource Center in Anchorage.
16 Comments
Vote NO on all of the judges. The public had nothing to do with the hiring and retention or competencies of background investigations. VOTE NO!!!!
The people of Alaska actually play a very substantial and important role both in selecting and retaining judges. You can learn more here: http://www.alaskajudges.info
I voted yes for all but 2.
Even ballot measure 1? You said yes on 1? That’s scary…
Justice is meant to be blind, and judges are meant to be fair – not to uphold your personal beliefs, or mine, but apply the law equally and without bias to the cases before them. The Alaska Judicial Council does exhaustive surveys to see how law enforcement, other officers of the court, and juries rank the judges. The criteria on whether or not to vote a judge should not be, “did I like his/her ruling or does his/her private life indicate that s/he doesn’t hold my same beliefs,” but were the cases before them treated fairly. I personally agreed with Zeman’s ruling – the Alaska Constitution clearly states that Alaska funds should not benefit private and religious organizations. But, you know what? The Alaska Supreme Court overturned his ruling so that is now the law of the land. This is why the courts are structured the way they are – for checks and balances. The only thing that should be considered when voting for a judge is is the judge fair? BTW, Watchman, shame on you for the ‘Adolf’ ads on your site.
Is your first name Adolph, per chance?
From simply a practical point of view, not blind justice, I want to be informed so I can make an informed decision. You’re talking optimal circumstances just months after POTUS Trump was treated to illegal, unjust and unfair law fare in front of the entire world???? That was to keep him out of office, where he’ll clean up this vast swamp, much of it financed by Alex Soros. Corrupt members of the legal system cannot continue to zealously cater to liberal agendas. If the council wants approval,
give us information to consider, not just eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
Trump is due to be sentenced on Nov 26. We should all pray that the criminal tactics employed against him do not succeed. Thank you.
Joel, I appreciate the recommendations. Unfortunately most of my family and extended family has already voted before this information came out. Maybe in future elections this feedback could be published a month or two in advance?
Yes it was too late for me.
Yet another reason to have one day of in person voting.
My vote agreed with 7 out of the 8 judges in your report. We are all encouraged to vote early. Your article is extremely important although a little late. I hope you can repeat this report earlier in the future. Thank you so much for the work you do.
We mailed out absentee ballots a week ago. It would have been VERY helpful if you could have sent the judge recommendations a week or more ago! We only voted on one judge, and that was one we voted “no” on. If we had had your recommendations earlier, we would have voted no on a few more.
Thanks Joel for the heads up. 5 no’s and 3 yes votes.
This guide was very helpful. I shared it wide and far.
Be sure to vote AGAINST the recommended judges. They will take away your rights.
Thank you for this article. In the limited time I had to look for information about the judges, I was able to find only a very little, and appreciate you compiling more here.
The same liberal organization that appoints these judges also recommends their retention, but they hide information about them. My vote will not be given away simply because liberals declare it. The voter should not have to vote blindly. I have always wondered what is it we’re voting for exactly, just a name? What do we base it on? Whatever those in charge decide to tell us, the slaves? That is insane, when you look at what President Trump has been put through with all the unfair lawsuits. These days, law fare is being used against the people, therefore sitting judges need to be liberal. Today is the biggest election in our country’s history and the liberals say they are going to steal it again. (I think not) In light of these potentially dire straits, everyone needs to question anyone in office, preferably before they win. We have a Gov who begs for our vote, then continues to bow to libs, a Lt gov who allows illegals to vote, a Chief Medical Officer, who directed that babies be Covid vaxxed, and we’re supposed to trust that a lib committee would never intentionally recommend a judge who wasn’t pro abortion, pro ACLU, pro transgender, pro boys in girls’ sports? That’s like the criminal investigating himself! No more. Look where trust got this country. I appreciate these factoids provided on 8 judges. For some reason, you cannot look them up, like you can an Assembly candidate. Is it because they have so much potentially negative power that they can use AGAINST those who voted for them, as we’ve seen across America? Charter schools are now dotting the landscape, because why? Because liberal teachers owned by the radical NEA are destroying children, and parents finally decided to take action. (How radical) So perhaps it is time to accept that public schools flushed themselves down the toilet. That’s the reason the law has changed: the trailblazers who stood up to school threats. Young Mr. Adolf (judge) is so obviously working for and assisting the destruction of children, it only emphasizes the corruption of the organization that is asking for him to be retained. The people have been fluoridated, chemtrailed, lethally injected, dumbed down, consumed poison food, spent years in indoctrination camps (schools), and watched hours of mind control everyday in the form of tel-lie-vision programming. They put a vision in your head and program you. If you want a vote on a judge, provide context. The system is purposely rigged against conservatives. We are awake/awakening and the current maritime legal system will be under scrutiny in the new Trump Administration. (The queen is dead and we have been restored to a Constitutional Republic)
Thank you, Watchman, for that information!
We should all support the Watchman. This is a site that can be trusted, and we are very lucky to have it. If Kamala is allowed to take office, it will be gone. But MSM will always be here with their one-sided “news”. It takes all of us to stand up to the few who trample on our rights.