Parnell stands by nominee despite his stance on adultery

Speaking to reporters at his biweekly news conference, Parnell said Haase shouldn't be judged on his beliefs. Rather, the question should be whether Haase can set aside his personal views and fairly decide who is qualified to be a judge in Alaska.

At a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, Haase surprised the Senate Judiciary Committee by saying he believed that Alaskans should be prosecuted if they had sex out of marriage. But Haase also said he wouldn't hold judicial candidates to his personal social values, which also include opposition to abortion.

"I did see that yesterday -- the answer is no, I wouldn't support that," Parnell said of Haase's beliefs on adultery. "Certainly comments like that don't help his case, but I also believe the best of a person."

Haase, a losing candidate for the state House in the 2010 Republican primary, is an electrical and mechanical designer and draftsman at the trans-Alaska pipeline terminal in Valdez. He's a former president of Eagle Forum Alaska, an organization that promotes conservative social values.

Parnell nominated him for the public member seat on the Alaska Judicial Council being vacated by a Ketchikan woman.

The nonpartisan council, established in the Alaska Constitution, is made up of three public members, three attorneys and the chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. It takes applications for judgeships from attorneys, examines their qualifications, and forwards vetted nominees to the governor for selection. The council also issues recommendations to voters when judges stand for retention elections.

Parnell defended the methods used by his administration to appoint Alaskans to boards and commissions.

"You're expected to find people who are qualified to do the job they're being selected for, not whether you agree with them 100 percent on their philosophical views," Parnell said. "Based upon the resume submitted, based upon the personal interviews that were done by our boards and commissions office with all selection candidates, I concluded that he would be a person who could fairly evaluate judge candidates."

Senate Judiciary chairman Hollis French, D-Anchorage, declined to allow Haase's nomination to proceed out of committee Wednesday. He said he was concerned about the constitutional requirement that the council have geographic diversity. If Haase was selected, there would be no representative from Southeast and two from the judicial district headquartered in Anchorage.

French set the next hearing for Haase on April 1.

"This guy is in danger of turning into a lightning rod," French said Thursday. He said he had gotten 10 calls and emails Thursday urging him to vote against Haase. He said he hadn't decided yet how he would vote, but was concerned that Haase had not mentioned his role on the Eagle Forum on the resume he submitted to the state.

French said he was exploring the legal options to see if the committee was required to pass Haase's nomination to a joint legislative session regardless of what committee members think about his qualifications.

Reach Rich Mauer at rmauer @adn.com or 257-4345.