Alaska Judicial Council to select new Nome Superior Court Judge

The Alaska Judicial Council is scheduled to arrive in Nome next week to interview candidates for the open Superior Court Judge position in Nome.
The Nome court had to rely on judges from other communities for nearly a year due to a vacancy left by former Nome Superior Court Judge Timothy Dooley. Dooley was the subject of an Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct investigation for making inappropriate remarks from the bench, which resulted in public censure. He also suffered health issues, which ultimately led him to not stand for retention.
According to Suzanne DiPietro, executive director of the Judicial Council, all seven Alaska Judicial Council members and two AJC staff members will be in Nome for the public meeting.
Six attorneys have been admitted to the final pool of candidates for the Nome Superior Court Judge position. They are former Nome Magistrate Brooke Browning Alowa; current Nome District Attorney John Earthman; Romano DiBenedetto, currently a magistrate judge in Fairbanks; Tara Logsdon, a magistrate judge in Palmer; Bride Seifert, an administrative law judge; and private practice lawyer Joan Wilson of Anchorage.
All candidates but John Earthman have also applied for open judge positions in Bethel, Dillingham or Kenai and will be interviewed in hearings prior to the Nome meeting. The only candidate interviewed in Nome will be John Earthman.  
DiPietro said the candidates have the choice to be either interviewed in public or in private and that Earthman chose to have his interview done in private.
DiPietro said that during the public comment period, the public is welcome to testify not only about the candidates, but also what the community expects of a Judge in Nome. “We are interested in hearing what types of qualities a Nome judge should have and what the issues are in Nome, that a judge will have to address,” DiPietro said.
The AJC will hear public testimony scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and is expected to begin their deliberation process behind closed doors at 3:30 p.m. The vote will be conducted in public.
The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 8 at the Nome Courthouse at 1:30 p.m.
 

The Nome Nugget

PO Box 610
Nome, Alaska 99762
USA

Phone: (907) 443-5235
Fax: (907) 443-5112

www.nomenugget.net

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