NCJ Number
180466
Date Published
May 1999
Length
87 pages
Annotation
This report contains the results of the Alaska Judicial Council’s study of the characteristics of attorneys who apply for and are appointed to the State court bench in Alaska.
Abstract
In addition to examining the characteristics of attorneys who apply for and are appointed to the State court bench, the report describes the performance of judges in Alaska and analyzes whether certain characteristics of applicants and appointees are related to performance on the bench. The report describes the structure and membership of the Alaska Judicial Council and outlines the study project and its purposes. The report also explains the statutory and historical framework under which Alaska’s judges have been selected and evaluated. It describes and analyzes data collected by the Council and describes limitations of the data. In general, the study found that a number of factors were strongly associated with the nomination process and fewer with the appointment process, suggesting that a rigorous merit selection process and thorough periodic evaluations of judges as completed in Alaska can foster judicial excellence. Notes, tables, appendixes