Superior Court Judge Craig Stowers wrote in a court order filed Tuesday that he thought he could be fair to both sides but stepped down because he realized his decisions could be questioned given his application to the Supreme Court.
"Both cases involve substantial issues of law and policy," Stowers wrote. "The parties and the public are entitled to have these important issues resolved in a context where there can be no question, not even a shadow of doubt, that the Court is acting in a neutral and fair manner."
Twenty-five judges and lawyers have applied for the open court seat, the most ever. The Alaska Judicial Council must narrow the field and nominate those most qualified -- at least two finalists -- to the governor. Palin then must appoint from that list.
Sharon Gleason, presiding judge for the court district based in Anchorage, on Tuesday reassigned the McLeod cases to Superior Court Judge Stephanie Joannides.
The change in judges means a hearing set for today in one of the cases is canceled.
In that case, McLeod is seeking a prohibition against state employees using private e-mail accounts for official state business.
"That's where I am trying to go towards. Darn it, that's all I'm seeking," McLeod said Tuesday. "And the reason is because the public has a right to know what's going on."
Her first couple of years in office, Palin typically used Yahoo accounts for her state work. Some top aides also routinely used private e-mail accounts. But McLeod and others trying to see the e-mails say they can't be confident they will ever get all the relevant messages from all the accounts used.
The use of private e-mails has been problematic in other ways. A lawyer hired to investigate issues in the Troopergate case said he wasn't sure he got all the relevant e-mails and that the matter needed more attention.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.