Alaska News

Alaska Judicial Council submits nominees to fill Court of Appeals vacancy

The Alaska Judicial Council has announced its nominees to fill the Alaska Court of Appeals judicial vacancy, according to a press release sent out Tuesday. Gov. Sean Parnell now has 45 days to pick an appointment from the selected nominees.

The Judicial Council, a constitiutionally mandated group of three attorneys, three non-attorneys, and the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court, nominates the most qualified applicants for a judicial vacancy after conducting a process of interviews and comment review.

The nominees chosen by the Judicial Council for the vacancy on the Alaska Court of Appeals are as follows:

Marjorie K. Allard: Ms. Allard graduated from Yale Law School in 1999, and is currently an assistant public defender in Anchorage. She has been an Alaska resident for 10 years, and has practiced law for 13 years.

Susan M. Carney: Ms. Carney graduated from Harvard Law School in 1987, and is currently the supervising attorney at the Office of Public Advocacy in Fairbanks. She has been an Alaska resident for 25 years, and has practiced law for 24 years.

Doug Kossler: Mr. Kossler graduated from Temple University School of Law (now known as the James E. Beasley School of Law) in 1994, and is currently Solicitor General of Criminal Affairs for the Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals in Anchorage. He has been an Alaska resident for 18-1/2 years, and has practiced law for 17 years.

Douglas Owen Moody: Mr. Moody graduated from University of California-Davis, King Hall Law School in 1989, and is currently Deputy Public Defender, Criminal Division, in Anchorage. has been an Alaska resident for 23 years, and has practiced law for 23 years.

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Jude Pate: Mr. Pate graduated from Lewis & Clark Northwestern School of Law in 1993, and is currently an assistant public defender in Sitka. He has been an Alaska resident for 19-1/2 years, and has practiced law for 18 years.

Eric Smith: Judge Smith graduated from Yale Law School in 1979, and is currently a superior court judge in Palmer. He has been an Alaska resident for 30-1/2 years, and has practiced law for 33 years.

Learn more about the Alaska Judicial Council, here.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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