Category: Alaska News

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The Alaska Judicial Council, in an apparent first, is not making a recommendation on whether voters should retain a judge, issuing a mixed performance evaluation on Wednesday for Juneau Superior Court Judge Marianna Carpeneti.

Carpeneti is facing her first retention election this fall after being appointed to the Juneau Superior Court in December 2021. The judicial council has previously recommended against retaining judges 12 times since it began issuing recommendations in 1976, but there is no known instance of the council not issuing a recomendation.

“Attorneys and court employees rated Judge Carpeneti’s impartiality and fairness as excellent. Social service professionals rated her impartiality and fairness as good. Peace and probation officers rated her as poor,” a performance summary published by the council notes.

Nearly identical assessments of Carpeneti were offered in the categories of legal ability, integrity, judicial temperament, and diligence and administrative skills.

Attempts to contact Carpeneti for comment on Friday morning were not successful as of midday.

Susanne DiPietro, the judicial council’s executive director, said in an interview Friday, said four of the council’s seven members need to concur on a recommendation. The votes for Carpeneti were three do not retain, two favoring retetion and two abstaining.

“To the knowledge of people in this office it has not it has not in the past happened that the council has tried to evaluate a judge and has not been able to come up with four votes, either yes or no,” DiPietro said.

The previous “no” recommendations issued on 12 occasions were for nine individual judges, some of who were retained by voters before again getting a negative recommendation from the council, she said.

Recommendations for 21 judges up for retention this year were issued by the judicial council on Wednesday, with “yes” recommendations for 18 and “no” recommendations for Kenai judges Kelly Lawson and Martin Fallon. No Juneau judges other than Carpeneti are on the ballot.

The council states that Fallon, a district court judge, “did not meet performance standards related to integrity, and diligence and administrative skills.” The assessment of Lawson, a superior court judge, states she “did not meet performance standards related to judicial temperament and integrity.”

Carpeneti, the daughter of former Alaska Supreme Court Justice Walter Carpeneti, was born and raised in Juneau, and was a private practice attorney in Homer when she was appointed a First Judicial District judge by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

“The most satisfying parts of this work include interacting with citizens who report for jury duty, and working to ensure that everyone who comes into my courtroom feels respected and heard,” Carpeneti said in an interview conducted by the judicial council as part of this year’s assessment process. “I also enjoy the thinking this job requires, understanding what the parties need from the court, and providing decisions that allow litigants to move on with their lives…Mostly, performing in this role makes me feel grateful to live in this community.”

A report card where attorneys, court employees, social service professionals, peace officers and jurors rated her in several categories on a 1 to 5 scale resulted in rankings ranging from 2.3 to 5.

The largest group of respondents were 108 attorneys who gave her cumulative scores of 3.7 for legal ability, 4.1 for impartiality, 4.3 for integrity, 3.9 for judicial temperment, 3.8 for diligence and 3.8 for overall performance. A survey of 28 court employees resulted in 4.6 overall performance score, 10 social service professions gave her a 3.5 overall score and 18 peace officers a 2.3 overall score.

Jurors, listed in a separate table gave her an overall rating of 5, with individual category scores between 4.8 and 5.

The council, in its summary of Carpeneti’s non-recommendation, noted the process included “surveys and reviews from attorneys, court employees, jurors, and other user groups familiar with the judge’s work, analysis of the judge’s financial disclosure documents, analysis of how often the judge’s decisions were affirmed on appeal, whether their pay was withheld for untimely decisions, how often the judge was disqualified from a case, whether the judge followed standards of ethical conduct and continuing education, input from the public, and the judge’s demonstrated commitment to the administration of justice and the community.”

Carpeneti, in a retention questionnaire for the council, stated “I think I am likely about where one would expect a judge to be four years into the job.”

“Which is to say that I’ve learned an enormous amount, and know I have a huge amount still to learn,” she wrote. “The most satisfying parts of this work include interacting with citizens who report for jury duty, and working to ensure that everyone who comes into my courtroom feels respected and heard. I also enjoy the thinking this job requires, understanding what the parties need from the court, and providing decisions that allow litigants to move on with their lives. Mostly, performing in this role makes me feel grateful to live in this community and hopeful for our community and state. I feel privileged to be in a role where people share with me the difficulties they face and trust me to make hugely personal decisions in their lives.”

This story was originally published by the Juneau Independent.

The post Judge Marianna Carpeneti, in historic first, does not get yes/no retention advisory from Alaska Judicial Council appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

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Late Friday night, Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom said she will reverse a decision she made Monday and will certify former attorney general Treg Taylor as a final-four candidate in Alaska’s race for governor.

Taylor’s reinstatement means he replaces his lieutenant governor, Candi English, who had taken Taylor’s spot as the fourth candidate in the race. Taylor’s wife, Jodi, had taken English’s spot as the lieutenant governor candidate.

Democratic candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins finished first in the August primary, followed by Republican candidates Bernadette Wilson, Dave Bronson and Taylor.

In Alaska, the top four candidates from the primary, regardless of political party, advance to the November general election.

Dahlstrom’s decision came five days after she disqualified Taylor and a state House candidate, Jose Tagle, for failing to provide personal financial information on time, as required by state law. 

Dahlstrom also restored Tagle, the sole opponent against Rep. Ted Eischeid, D-Anchorage, to the ballot.

The Alaska Public Offices Commission, which regulates political candidates and campaigns, had recommended that the two be disqualified.

That recommendation was still in place on Friday night, but Dahlstrom said the Department of Law — which Taylor led until last year — had conducted an independent review of candidates’ financial disclosure statements.

That review, which Dahlstrom did not release Friday night, showed ”numerous potential discrepancies between filed statements and public records,” Dahlstrom said in a written statement.

“On the basis of that additional information, the Lieutenant Governor will certify the two candidates,” Dahlstrom’s statement said.

Starting last year, the Alaska Public Offices Commission had raised concerns about Taylor’s financial disclosure form, which did not list hundreds of tenants who rent from Taylor. Taylor and his wife bought Anchorage’s Inlet View Tower in 2023. 

Taylor registered as a candidate for office on June 1, submitting a new public officer financial disclosure form. State law allows 30 days for amendments, but Taylor’s form wasn’t amended with the partial names of renters until late July.

Because of that missed deadline, the Public Offices Commission voted 4-1 in late August to recommend that Taylor be disqualified. The commission also recommended that Tagle, who had filed a blank disclosure form, be disqualified. Dahlstrom adopted both recommendations on Aug. 31. 

Since then, concerns had been raised about possible omissions by other candidates, including Wilson, whose personal financial disclosure form did not disclose her ownership of Denali Disposal, a garbage company. 

Unlike Taylor’s case, no formal complaint had been filed before the primary.

“The Department of Law’s informal review has raised questions about the recommendations made on August 31,” said Dahlstrom in her statement. “I will not withhold certification from two candidates on recommendations that, in light of this additional information, I cannot apply with confidence across the field of candidates. Certification decisions have to rest on a process that can be defended as to every candidate.”

Taylor, who previously called on Republican candidates to consolidate their campaigns, issued a statement celebrating the decision.

The former attorney general said his campaign has “been about standing up to political insiders and special interests.”

“Candi and I are running to end these types of political games and put power back where it belongs: with Alaskans. Alaskans should decide our elections. Not political insiders. Not special interests. Not the establishment,” Taylor said.

The first ballots for Alaska’s November general election are scheduled to be mailed to voters starting Sept. 18.

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