Shall Jude Pate be retained as justice of the supreme court for ten years?

Professional record published by the Alaska Court System: served as counsel for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska from 1994 to 1999, in private law practice from 1999 to 2006, and as an Alaska assistant public defender from 2006 to 2018 before taking the bench; on the bench he chaired the Newer Judge Conference Planning Committee and served on the Fairness, Diversity, and Equality Committee and the Workplace Conduct Committee, and worked to establish the Healing to Wellness Court, a joint state-tribal therapeutic court in Sitka.

July 31, 2026

Source: courts.alaska.gov

Wrote the Alaska Supreme Court opinion upholding the end of a father's parental rights. The court held the state's efforts to reunite the family were reasonable overall, despite the father's mental-health struggles and limited English (Hamza B. v. State, Opinion 7815).

July 10, 2026

Source: appellate-records.courts.alaska.gov

Wrote the Alaska Supreme Court opinion upholding the state's repeal of a ban on jet skis in two protected fish and wildlife habitat areas. The ruling reversed a lower court and sided with the Department of Fish and Game (Opinion 7788).

September 26, 2025

Source: appellate-records.courts.alaska.gov

Wrote the Alaska Supreme Court's majority opinion in Alaska Democratic Party v. Beecher. The court upheld putting a sixth-place primary finisher on the 2024 U.S. House ballot after two higher finishers withdrew, ruling state law allows more than one replacement. Justice Susan Carney dissented.

July 25, 2025

Source: appellate-records.courts.alaska.gov

Wrote the Alaska Supreme Court's opinion in Jouppi v. State (Opinion 7762, S-18598), rejecting an airplane owner's claim that mandatory forfeiture of the plane he used to transport beer into a community that bans alcohol importation violated the Excessive Fines Clause of the U.S. Constitution, while correcting parts of the court of appeals' excessive-fines analysis under United States v. Bajakajian.

April 18, 2025

Source: appellate-records.courts.alaska.gov

Governor Mike Dunleavy appointed Sitka Superior Court Judge Jude Pate to the Alaska Supreme Court after the Alaska Judicial Council sent a list of nominees for the vacancy.

January 20, 2023

Source: apnews.com

Was appointed to the Sitka Superior Court by Governor Bill Walker, succeeding Judge David V. George, and served as a Sitka Superior Court judge handling civil and criminal cases until his elevation to the Alaska Supreme Court.

February 12, 2018

Source: ajc.alaska.gov

Wrote the Alaska Supreme Court's decision upholding a judge's correction of custody findings. A father's lawyer had drafted findings adding a second domestic violence finding the court never made (Opinion 7820, Darren M. v. Destiny D.).

July 24, 2026Favorable on Impartiality

Source: appellate-records.courts.alaska.gov

Wrote the Alaska Supreme Court's opinion in Million v. Hubert (Opinion 7802, S-19094), addressing whether a dissolution decree that divided a veteran's Combat-Related Special Compensation and disability pay - which federal law bars state courts from treating as marital property - could be collaterally attacked more than a year after it issued, where the self-represented veteran had told the superior court the payments were retirement benefits.

February 20, 2026Favorable on Legal Competence

Source: appellate-records.courts.alaska.gov

Wrote the Alaska Supreme Court opinion upholding a bar arbitration panel's finding that an attorney's contingency fee was reasonable in a dispute over an Alaska Native allotment settlement. The court also held judges may award legal fees for court work that follows arbitration (Opinion 7800).

January 23, 2026Favorable on Legal Competence

Source: appellate-records.courts.alaska.gov

Wrote the Alaska Supreme Court's opinion in Alaska USA Federal Credit Union v. Sayer Law Group (Opinion 7796, 2025). The court ruled that a state child support lien is paid first from the money left over after a foreclosure sale, ahead of a lender's judgment lien recorded earlier.

November 28, 2025Favorable on Legal Competence

Source: appellate-records.courts.alaska.gov

Wrote the Alaska Supreme Court opinion letting a woman sue over the state's expanded bear-killing program (Bittner v. Board of Game, Opinion 7745). The court ruled her lost chance to watch brown bears at Katmai counted as a real injury, and revived her dismissed case.

February 14, 2025Favorable on Legal Competence

Source: appellate-records.courts.alaska.gov

The Alaska Judicial Council's first review of his work as a Sitka Superior Court judge found he met or exceeded every performance standard, including legal ability, integrity, fairness, temperament, and diligence. It also found he followed judicial ethics rules and issued every decision within the six-month legal deadline. Jurors who sat in his trials rated him 4.9 out of 5, and the Council recommended a yes vote on keeping him in office.

September 30, 2022Favorable on Legal Competence

Source: ajc.alaska.gov