Federal Courts
RSSFederal judiciary affecting Alaska: the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and other federal courts.
The Senate questions Alaska's nominee for a long-empty federal judgeship
The Senate questioned Anchorage magistrate judge Kyle Reardon for Alaska's federal trial court, a seat empty since 2022.
by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago2 min readAI
Former Ketchikan church elder pleads guilty to federal child sexual abuse material charge
A 74-year-old former Ketchikan church elder pleaded guilty to possessing over 1,000 images of child sexual abuse material and faces at least 10 years in federal prison
by Maggie AlaskaNews4d ago2 min readAI
Ninth Circuit says tribal law cannot shield employees from federal civil rights suits
A federal appeals court ruled tribal governments cannot shield their own employees from civil rights lawsuits by writing immunity into tribal code.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min readAI
The Legislature will spend $50,000 defending the seizure of a pilot's plane
A six-pack of Budweiser cost an Alaska bush pilot his $95,000 plane. The Legislature has now voted $50,000 to defend that at the Supreme Court.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
One machinegun, 14 grams of cocaine, and a mandatory 30 years
Mason Lanon, 23, of Fairbanks sold an agent a converted machinegun and 14 grams of cocaine. That single count carried a mandatory 30 years.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
A court struck down a fishery council's power. Alaska's council has the same one.
A court found a Gulf fishery council's veto unconstitutional — and Alaska's council holds the same power, behind the CDQ program and other fishing regimes.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min readAI
Federal Judge threw out Trump's offshore drilling without deciding the question
A judge dismissed the challenge to Trump's offshore reopening on standing, without ruling on whether he had the authority. The groups can refile.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min readAI
Ninth Circuit upholds federal Cook Inlet salmon management against drift fleet challenge
Cook Inlet drift fishermen lost again in federal court. The fight over who actually gets the fish moves back to the Alaska Board of Fisheries.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min readAI
Trump names Kyle Reardon to the Alaska judgeship vacant since 2024
Trump named Kyle Reardon to Alaska's federal judgeship, empty two years. In a 2025 bar poll, three-quarters of respondents couldn't say if he was qualified.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Judge vacates Izembek land exchange for King Cove road
A federal judge vacated the land exchange behind the King Cove road through the Izembek refuge, reopening one of Alaska's longest fights on primary day.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Dalton corridor suit is not over: groups appeal, and 700,000 acres remain in dispute
Alaska is set to gain Dalton Highway land promised at statehood, but conservation groups fight it on appeal, and tribes warn it strips subsistence rights.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Judge declines to block 1.4 million-acre Alaska land transfer
A judge won't freeze Alaska's claim to 1.4 million acres of federal land, pushing the state past 96 percent of its 1959 statehood entitlement. The lawsuit lives on.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
One new rural Alaska prosecutor, against deep tribal-justice cuts
The DOJ is adding one rural Alaska prosecutor while proposing to cut the budgets that fund tribal police and victim services by roughly a quarter.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min readAI
As federal wetland protections recede, Anchorage rewrites its own rules
After the Supreme Court pulled federal protection off more than half the nation's wetlands, their fate now falls to states and cities — and no state has more wetlands than Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Sullivan backs a contested Trump border judge; Murkowski doesn't vote
Sullivan voted to confirm a Trump judge for a Texas border court — one who wouldn't say under oath that Biden won 2020. Murkowski didn't vote, and hasn't said why.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readAI
Soldotna man faces federal charges for alleged CSAM purchases via PayPal
A Soldotna man faces federal charges for allegedly purchasing child sexual abuse material through PayPal over two years, with investigators tracing roughly 27 transactions to his account.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min readAI
A record year for federal research-fraud enforcement — and Alaska's stake in it
Washington recovered a record $6.8B in false-claims cases last year. Alaska's universities run on federal research money, and Begich is on the oversight panel.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago3 min readAI
Pebble Mine's challenge to EPA reaches an Anchorage court Thursday.
Pebble vs. EPA hits Anchorage federal court Thursday. The salmon, the State of Alaska, and a major mineral deposit all want a say.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readAI
Supreme Court narrows damages path in prison religious-rights cases
SCOTUS just made it harder for prisoners to sue individual guards for money over blocked religious practice. Alaska settled under this law in 2019.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Supreme Court tax-sale ruling puts spotlight on Alaska foreclosure proceeds
The Supreme Court narrowed tax-sale payouts Tuesday. Anchorage's tax-foreclosure auction is Wednesday. No, that's not a lot of time.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Juneau's federal court office keeps closing, with no end in sight
Alaska's capital has a federal court counter. Staffing it is apparently optional — closed again this month, with no word on when it reopens.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min readAI