# List of justices of the Alaska Supreme Court

This is a list of persons who have served as justices of the Alaska Supreme Court.

## List of justices

| # | Justice | Hometown | Born–died | Began term | Ended term | Term as chief justice | Appointed by | Reason for termination |
| 1 | Buell A. Nesbett | Anchorage | 1910–1993 | August 1959 | March 1970 | 1959–1970 | Egan (D) | resignation |
| 2 | John H. Dimond | Juneau | 1918–1985 | August 1959 | November 30, 1971 | — | Egan (D) | resignation |
| 3 | Walter Hartman Hodge | Nome | 1896–1975 | August 1959 | March 1960 | — | Egan (D) | appointed to D. Alaska |
| 4 | Harry Arend | Fairbanks | 1903–1966 | May 1960 | January 1965 | — | Egan (D) | lost retention election |
| 5 | Jay Rabinowitz | Fairbanks | 1927–2001 | March 8, 1965 | February 28, 1997 | 1972–1975 1978–1981 1984–1987 1990–1992 | Egan (D) | mandatory retirement |
| 6 | Roger G. Connor | Anchorage | 1926–1999 | December 2, 1968 | May 1, 1983 | — | Hickel (R) | resignation |
| 7 | George Frank Boney | Anchorage | 1930–1972 | December 2, 1968 | August 30, 1972 | 1970–1972 | Hickel (R) | death |
| 8 | Robert Erwin | Anchorage | 1934–2020 | August 3, 1970 | April 15, 1977 | — | Miller (R) | resignation |
| 9 | Robert Boochever | Juneau | 1917–2011 | March 22, 1972 | October 1980 | 1975–1978 | Egan (D) | appointed to 9th Cir. |
| 10 | James Martin Fitzgerald | Anchorage | 1920–2011 | December 1972 | March 1975 | — | Egan (D) | elevation to D. Alaska |
| 11 | Edmond W. Burke | Anchorage | 1935–2020 | April 4, 1975 | December 1, 1993 | 1981–1984 | Hammond (R) | resignation |
| 12 | Warren Matthews | Anchorage | 1939– | May 26, 1977 | April 5, 2009 | 1987–1990 1997–2000 | Hammond (R) | mandatory retirement |
| 13 | Allen T. Compton | Juneau | 1938–2008 | December 12, 1980 | November 1998 | 1995–1997 | Hammond (R) | resignation |
| 14 | Daniel A. Moore Jr. | Anchorage | 1933–2022 | July 10, 1983 | December 1995 | 1992–1995 | Sheffield (D) | resignation |
| 15 | Robert L. Eastaugh | Anchorage | 1943– | April 18, 1994 | November 2, 2009 | — | Hickel (AI) | resignation |
| 16 | Dana Fabe | Anchorage | 1951– | January 1996 | June 2016 | 2000–2003 2006–2009 2012–2015 | Knowles (D) | resignation |
| 17 | Alex Bryner | Anchorage | 1943– | February 1997 | October 2007 | 2003–2006 | Knowles (D) | resignation |
| 18 | Walter L. Carpeneti | Juneau | 1945– | November 1998 | January 2013 | 2009–2012 | Knowles (D) | resignation |
| 19 | Daniel Winfree | Fairbanks | 1953– | January 2008 | February 6, 2023 | 2021–2023 | Palin (R) | mandatory retirement |
| 20 | Morgan Christen | Anchorage | 1961– | April 5, 2009 | January 10, 2012 | — | Palin (R) | appointed to 9th Cir. |
| 21 | Craig Stowers | Anchorage | 1954–2022 | December 3, 2009 | June 1, 2020 | 2015–2018 | Parnell (R) | resignation |
| 22 | Peter J. Maassen | Anchorage | 1955– | August 9, 2012 | January 13, 2025 | 2023–2025 | Parnell (R) | mandatory retirement |
| 23 | Joel Bolger | Anchorage | 1955– | February 1, 2013 | June 30, 2021 | 2018–2021 | Parnell (R) | resignation |
| 24 | Susan M. Carney | Fairbanks | 1962– | June 2016 | incumbent | 2025–present | Walker (I) | — |
| 25 | Dario Borghesan | Fairbanks | 1979– | July 1, 2020 | incumbent | — | Dunleavy (R) | — |
| 26 | Jennifer S. Henderson | Anchorage | 1976– | July 7, 2021 | incumbent | — | Dunleavy (R) | — |
| 27 | Jude Pate | Sitka | — | March 22, 2023 | incumbent | — | Dunleavy (R) | — |
| 28 | Aimee A. Oravec | — | — | January 31, 2025 | incumbent | — | Dunleavy (R) | — |

## Chief justices

The Supreme Court had only one chief justice, Buell Nesbett, during its first decade of existence. Alaska voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1970, months after Nesbett's retirement, which set the current limits for chief justices, namely that they are allowed to serve three-year non-consecutive terms.
Chief Justice :
| Nesbett | 1959–1970 |
| Boney | 1970–1972 |
| Rabinowitz | 1972–1975 |
| Boochever | 1975–1978 |
| Rabinowitz | 1978–1981 |
| Burke | 1981–1984 |
| Rabinowitz | 1984–1987 |
| Matthews | 1987–1990 |
| Rabinowitz | 1990–1992 |
| Moore | 1992–1995 |
| Compton | 1995–1997 |
| Matthews | 1997–2000 |
| Fabe | 2000–2003 |
| Bryner | 2003–2006 |
| Fabe | 2006–2009 |
| Carpeneti | 2009–2012 |
| Fabe | 2012–2015 |
| Stowers | 2015–2018 |
| Bolger | 2018–2021 |
| Winfree | 2021–2023 |
| Maassen | 2023–2025 |
| Carney | 2025–present |

## Succession of seats

Seat 1 :
| Seat established 1959 ||||
| Nesbett | 1959–1970 |
| Erwin | 1970–1977 |
| Matthews | 1977–2009 |
| Christen | 2009–2012 |
| Maassen | 2012–2025 |
| Oravec | 2025–present |
Seat 2 :
| Seat established 1959 ||||
| Dimond | 1959–1971 |
| Boochever | 1972–1980 |
| Compton | 1980–1998 |
| Carpeneti | 1998–2013 |
| Bolger | 2013–2021 |
| Henderson | 2021–present |
Seat 3 :
| Seat established 1959 ||||
| Hodge | 1959–1960 |
| Arend | 1960–1965 |
| Rabinowitz | 1965–1997 |
| Bryner | 1997–2007 |
| Winfree | 2008–2023 |
| Pate | 2023–present |
Seat 4 :
| Seat established 1968 ||||
| Connor | 1968–1983 |
| Moore | 1983–1995 |
| Fabe | 1996–2016 |
| Carney | 2016–present |
Seat 5 :
| Seat established 1968 ||||
| Boney | 1968–1972 |
| Fitzgerald | 1972–1975 |
| Burke | 1975–1993 |
| Eastaugh | 1994–2009 |
| Stowers | 2009–2020 |
| Borghesan | 2020–present |

## Retention election history

Justices face a retention election in the first regularly scheduled election after they have served three full years, and every ten years thereafter. Only one justice, Harry Arend, has lost a retention election.
| Election Year | Justice Name | Yes Votes | Percentage | No Votes | Percentage |
| 1962 | Nesbett | 37,872 | 72.1% | 14,679 | 27.9% |
| 1962 | Dimond | 38,873 | 73.4% | 14,083 | 26.6% |
| 1964 | Arend | 29,884 | 46.7% | 34,055 | 53.3% |
| 1968 | Rabinowitz | 48,484 | 65.3% | 25,802 | 34.7% |
| 1972 | Connor | 63,502 | 72.8% | 23,752 | 27.2% |
| 1974 | Erwin | 54,907 | 67.5% | 26,460 | 32.5% |
| 1976 | Boochever | 73,062 | 67.3% | 35,476 | 32.7% |
| 1978 | Burke | 73,841 | 68.6% | 33,806 | 31.4% |
| 1978 | Rabinowitz | 72,978 | 67.8% | 34,729 | 32.2% |
| 1980 | Matthews | 75,991 | 53.5% | 66,095 | 46.5% |
| 1982 | Connor | 104,275 | 61.5% | 65,240 | 38.5% |
| 1984 | Compton | 125,759 | 69.6% | 54,968 | 30.4% |
| 1986 | Moore | 107,420 | 69.0% | 48,159 | 31.0% |
| 1988 | Burke | 124,827 | 73.0% | 46,124 | 27.0% |
| 1988 | Rabinowitz | 100,789 | 59.1% | 69,707 | 40.9% |
| 1990 | Matthews | 110,036 | 65.1% | 58,897 | 34.9% |
| 1994 | Compton | 119,089 | 64.3% | 66,157 | 35.7% |
| 1998 | Eastaugh | 127,794 | 64.9% | 69,031 | 35.1% |
| 2000 | Bryner | 138,749 | 61.4% | 87,347 | 38.6% |
| 2000 | Fabe | 130,620 | 57.1% | 98,183 | 42.9% |
| 2000 | Matthews | 134,657 | 60.8% | 86,806 | 39.2% |
| 2002 | Carpeneti | 130,566 | 66.7% | 65,117 | 33.3% |
| 2008 | Eastaugh | 172,440 | 63.5% | 98,944 | 36.5% |
| 2010 | Fabe | 126,885 | 54.4% | 106,524 | 45.6% |
| 2012 | Winfree | 165,777 | 64.9% | 89,553 | 35.1% |
| 2014 | Stowers | 146,829 | 62.9% | 86,534 | 37.1% |
| 2016 | Bolger | 157,225 | 57.9% | 114,440 | 42.1% |
| 2016 | Maassen | 154,304 | 57.5% | 114,205 | 42.5% |
| 2020 | Carney | 200,598 | 63.0% | 117,660 | 37.0% |