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STATE OF ALASKA COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL CONDUCT 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 510 L Street, Suite 585 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 (907) 272-1033 (800) 478-1033 Fax: (907) 272-9309 www.acjc.alaska.gov A LASKA C OMMISSION O N J UDICIAL C ONDUCT 2017 Roster Judge Members Judge William B. Carey Judge Erin B. Marston Alaska Superior Court Alaska Superior Court 415 Main Street, Rm 400 825 W. 4th Avenue Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 (Term expires February 1, 2019) (Term expires February 1, 2019) Judge Jane F. Kauvar Alaska Superior Court 101 Lacey Street Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 (Term expires February 1, 2020) Attorney Members Karla Taylor-Welch Amy Gurton-Mead 100 Cushman Street, Suite 502 155 S. Seward Street Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 Juneau, Alaska 99801 (Term expires March 1, 2020) (Term expires March 1, 2020) (Chairperson) Donald W. McClintock 1227 W. 9th Avenue, Suite 200 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 (Term expires March 1, 2021) Public Members Melanie Bahnke Robert Sheldon 510 L Street, Suite 585 510 L Street, Suite 585 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 (Term expires March 1, 2019) (Term expires March 1, 2020) Jeannine Jabaay 510 L Street, Suite 585 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 (Term expires March 1, 2021) TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Page No. Introduction 1 Commissioner Biographies 2 I. The Commission's Role and Function 6 A. Judicial Officers Who Come Under the Commission’s Authority 6 B. Types of Complaints the Commission May Address 7 II. How the Commission Operates 9 A. Filing a Complaint 9 B. Complaint Investigation 10 III. Calendar Year 2017 Activities 13 A. Summary of Complaints 13 B. Commission Meetings 30 C. Outreach 30 D. Formal Proceedings 30 -i- TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Contents Page No. E. Rules of Procedure 30 F. Staffing 31 IV. Commission Finances and Budget 31 A. Fiscal Year 2018 Budget 31 B. Fiscal Year 2017 Activity 32 V. Future Activities 32 A. Commission Meetings 32 B. Caseload 32 C. Legislation 32 D. Formal Ethics Opinions 32 E. Advisory Opinions 34 F. Other Activities 34 -ii- LIST OF TABLES Table Page No. 1 2017 Complaint Filings 14 2 Comparison With Previous Years’ Filings 14 3 Complaint Sources (2013 - 2017) 17 4 2017 Jurisdictional Complaint Closures 18 5 2017 Complaint Dispositions 19 6 Comparison With Previous Years’ Closures 21 7 Actions Taken: 2013-2017 23 8 Court Levels Involved (2013-2017) 25 9 Pending Jurisdictional Complaints by Year Filed 26 10 Types Of Allegations 27 11 2017 Recusals By Commissioners and Staff 29 -iii- LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page No. 1 2017 Complaint Filings 14 2 Total Filings Comparison by Year 16 3 Comparison of Complaint Sources 17 4 2017 Jurisdictional Complaint Closures 18 5A Non-Jurisdictional Complaints Processed in 2017 20 5B Jurisdictional Complaints Processed in 2017 20 6 Complaint Closure Comparison By Year 22 7 Actions Taken: 2013-2017 24 8 Court Levels Involved 25 10 Types of Allegations Filed in 2017 27 -iv- LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Constitutional Provisions Relating to the Commission on Judicial Conduct A Statutory Provisions Relating to the Commission on Judicial Conduct B Appellate Rule 406 C Code of Judicial Conduct D Alaska Statute Relating to Judicial Disqualification E Complaint Form F Formal Ethics Opinions G Advisory Opinions H Commission Rules of Procedure I List of Published Alaska Judicial Conduct Opinions J -v- INTRODUCTION Alaska's Commission on Judicial Conduct was created by amendment to the state constitution in 1968. The Commission is composed of three state court judges, three attorneys who have practiced law in the state for at least ten years, and three members of the public. This group of nine individuals from differing backgrounds and geographical areas addresses problems of judicial conduct and disability. Complaints alleging judicial misconduct may be filed by any person. -1- COMMISSIONER BIOGRAPHIES Judicial Members (2017) HONORABLE WILLIAM B. CAREY was born and raised in Framingham, Massachusetts. He came to Alaska in 1980 to work as a legal intern at Cook Inlet Native Association in Anchorage. After 27 years in general private practice, he was appointed to the Superior Court bench in Ketchikan. He also presides in the Petersburg and Kake courts and in other cases in Southeast Alaska when necessary. He is a member of the Child Support Review and Criminal Rules committees. Judge Carey is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Denver College of Law. He was appointed to the Commission in 2016. HONORABLE ERIN B. MARSTON is a Superior Court Judge in the Third Judicial District in Anchorage. Judge Marston was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. He graduated from West Anchorage High School and Colby College. He received his legal education from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. He was admitted to state and federal practice in Alaska in 1985. Judge Marston was appointed to the bench in 2012 following nearly 30 years of practice in Anchorage including time as an Assistant District Attorney. Judge Marston is assigned to the criminal docket. He was appointed to the Commission in 2015. HONORABLE JANE KAUVAR was appointed to the District Court in 1981 and to the Superior Court in 2016. She has previously served on the Commission from February 2008 to February 2011. Judge Kauvar presides over the Fairbanks Juvenile Treatment Court and is a training judge for Magistrate Judges. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a BA in 1970, and from Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley, with a JD in 1973. She came to Alaska to clerk for Justice Jay A. Rabinowitz, and was then an assistant district attorney and an assistant public defender before being appointed to the bench. -2- Attorney Members (2017) MARC W. JUNE (October 2013 - March 2017) has practiced law in Anchorage since 1980. He received a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from Stanford University in 1977. He received his law degree from UCLA School of Law in 1980. He has been in the private practice of law since being admitted to the Alaska Bar in 1990, first at the law firm of Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot and, since 1996, at The Law Office of Marc June. His past and current professional activities include the Alaska Bar Association Board of Governors, the Alaska Bar Association Fee Arbitration Panel, the Alaska Bar Association Disciplinary Panel, the Ethics Committee, the Alaska Court System Civil Rules Committee, the United States District Court Local Civil Rules Committee, and the Board of Directors of Alaska Legal Services Corporation. DON MCCLINTOCK is an attorney in private practice with the law firm of Ashburn & Mason, PC., where he focuses on real estate and corporate transactions and finance, as well as eminent domain and land use litigation. Don worked as a law clerk for Justice Warren Matthews of the Alaska Supreme Court, and as an assistant attorney general for the State of Alaska. Don served on the Alaska Bar Association Board of Governors from 2008 to 2014 and has volunteered for many civic organizations over the years. He is a graduate of Stanford University (AB ’76) and Harvard Law School (JD ’80). He was appointed to the Commission in 2017. AMY GURTON MEAD currently practices law in Juneau as the City and Borough Attorney. She holds a JD Degree from Tulane Law School and a B.A. in Psychology from Boston University. Ms. Mead has served as a judicial clerk for the Hon. Thomas A. Jahnke, as an Assistant District Attorney in Ketchikan (1996-1998), as an Assistant Attorney General in Juneau (2000-2001), and as the City and Borough Attorney for Wrangell (2008-2010). Accepted into the Alaska bar in 1997, she was in private practice with Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh (now Hoffman Blasco) from 1998 – 2000 and from 2001 – 2010. In 2010 she joined the City and Borough of Juneau Law Department as an Assistant City Attorney. She was appointed to the Commission in 2012. KARLA TAYLOR-WELCH was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. She received her bachelors (1977), masters (1978) and juris doctorate (1983) from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Ms. Taylor-Welch worked for the Department of Law from 1984-2005. She spent 11 years total in the DOA and 10 years in the AGO handling children and juvenile cases, as well as adult protection cases. From 2005, until her retirement in 2017, she worked for the Fairbanks civil section of OPA, the last two and a half years as supervisor. She remains an active bar member, working occasionally for private firms and volunteering her legal skills at a local non-profit organization serving children and families. Since retirement from the State of Alaska, she has been enjoying her time traveling, biking, skiing, swimming, and playing with her grandchildren. She was appointed to the Commission in 2016. -3- Public Members (2017) JAMES C. (CHRIS) BROWN (March 2009 - March 2017) has lived in Alaska since 2004, and has a 35+ year career in the telecommunications industry. Mr. Brown was born in Canada and grew up in the Southeastern US, where he received an electrical engineering degree from the University of South Florida and an MBA from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Brown’s professional career spans both domestic and international telecommunications, including senior management positions with Sprint, British Telecom, and currently AT&T Alaska. Chris and Margaret, his wife of 35 years have one son, Matthew. Chris’s interests include amateur radio, photography, and music. JEANNINE JABAAY is a fourth generation Alaskan living in the rual community of Hope, Alaska, where she is a staff writer for the Glacier City Gazette and runs a small cabin rental business. Jeannine is the president of Alaska Treeline, Inc., a remodeling company in Anchorage with a focus on deck construction.