Ralph Beistline
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2015 - Present
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Ralph R. Beistline is a federal judge on senior status for the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. He joined the court in 2002 after being nominated by President George W. Bush.[1]
Beistline was succeeded by Joshua Kindred.
Early life and education
A native Alaskan, Beistline graduated from the University of Alaska with his bachelor's degree in 1972 and later graduated from the University of Puget Sound School of Law with his Juris Doctorate degree in 1974.[1]
Professional career
After law school, Beistline was a law clerk for three Superior Court Judges in the Alaska Superior Court from 1974 to 1975. The remainder of his pre-judicial legal career was spent in private practice, licensed in the State of Alaska. In 1992, Beistline became a superior court judge in Fairbanks.[1]
Judicial career
District of Alaska
On the recommendation of U.S. Senators Ted Stevens and Frank Murkowski, Beistline was nominated by President George W. Bush on November 8, 2001, to a seat vacated by Russel Holland as Holland assumed senior status. Beistline was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 12, 2002, on an unopposed 98-0 vote,[2] and received his commission March 19, 2002. He assumed senior status on December 31, 2015.[1]
Noteworthy cases
Joshua Wade case (2010)
Judge Ralph Beistline presided in the trial of Joshua Wade. Wade was charged with murder and carjacking which is considered a federal offense. On January 4, 2010, the judge ordered the trial delayed until August of 2010 to make sure DNA evidence was gathered.[3]
However, in February 2010, Wade confessed to two murders in a plea deal. The confession spared him the death penalty, which is the punishment for a murder conviction in federal court.[4]
See also
External links
- Judge Beistline's Biography at the Federal Judicial Center
- Reuters, "Alaska couple admits to plot to kill federal judge and others," August 28, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Federal Judicial Center, "Judge Beistline's Biography," accessed January 4, 2016
- ↑ "Senate Judiciary Committee" Confirmations of the 107th Congress, February 5, 2009
- ↑ "Anchorage Daily News" Wade murder trial postponed until August, judge rules, January 4, 2010
- ↑ Anchorage Daily News, "Wade to spend life in prison," February 17, 2010
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Russel Holland |
District of Alaska 2002–2015 Seat #1 |
Succeeded by: Joshua Kindred
|
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 |
Armijo • Bates • Beistline • Blackburn • Bowdre • Bunning • Bury • Caldwell • Camp • Cassell • Cebull • Clement • Clifton • Crane • Eagan • Engelhardt • Friot • Gibbons • Granade • Gregory • Gritzner • Haddon • Hartz • Heaton • Hicks • Howard • Johnson • Jorgenson • Krieger • Land • Leon • Mahan • Martinez • Martone • McConnell • Melloy • Mills • O'Brien • Parker • Payne • Prost • Reeves • Riley • Robinson • Rogers • Royal • Shedd • B. Smith • L. Smith • Walton • Wooten • Zainey | ||
| 2002 |
Africk • Anderson • Autrey • Baylson • Cercone • Chesler • Clark • Collyer • Conner • Conti • Corrigan • Davis • Davis • Dorr • England • Ericksen • Fuller • Gardner • Godbey • Griesbach • Hanen • Hovland • Hudson • Jones • Jordan • Kinkeade • Klausner • Kugler • Leighton • Linares • Moses • Marra • Martinez • Martini • Mays • McVerry • Phillips • Raggi • Reade • Rose • Rufe • Savage • Schwab • Smith • St. Eve • Walter • White • Wolfson | ||
| 2003 |
Adams • Altonaga • Bea • Benitez • Bennett • Boyle • Brack • Breen • Browning • Burns • Bybee • Callahan • Campbell • Cardone • Carney • Castel • Chertoff • Cohn • Colloton • Conrad • Coogler • Cook • Cooke • Crone • Der-Yeghiayan • Drell • Duffey • Duncan • Erickson • Feuerstein • Figa • Filip • Fischer • Fisher • Flanagan • Floyd • Frost • Gibson • Greer • Gruender • Guirola • Hall • Hardiman • Hayes • Herrera • Hicks • Holmes • Holwell • Hopkins • Houston • Irizarry • Jones • Junell • Karas • Kravitz • Martinez • McKnight • Minaldi • Montalvo • Mosman • Otero • Pickering • Prado • Pratter • Proctor • Quarles • Robart • Roberts • Robinson • Rodgers • Rodriguez • Sabraw • Sanchez • Saylor • Selna • Sharpe • Simon • Springmann • Stanceu • Steele • Stengel • Suko • Sutton • Sykes • Titus • Townes • Tymkovich • Van Antwerpen • Varlan • Wake • Wesley • White • Woodcock • Yeakel | ||
| 2004 |
Alvarez • Benton • Boyko • Covington • Diamond • Harwell • Kelley • Schiavelli • Schneider • Starrett • Watson | ||
| 2005 |
Alito • Barrett • Batten • Bianco • Brown • Burgess • Conrad • Cox • Crotty • Delgado-Colon • Dever • DuBose • Griffin • Griffith • Johnston • Kendall • Larson • Ludington • Mattice • McKeague • Neilson • Owen • Pryor • Roberts • Sandoval • Schiltz • Seabright • Smoak • Van Tatenhove • Vitaliano • Watkins • Zouhary | ||
| 2006 |
Besosa • Bumb • Chagares • Cogan • Gelpi • Golden • Gordon • Gorsuch • Guilford • Hillman • Holmes • Ikuta • D. Jordan • K. Jordan • Kavanaugh • Miller • Moore • Shepherd • Sheridan • Smith • Whitney • Wigenton | ||
| 2007 |
Anderson • Aycock • Bailey • Bryant • Davis • DeGiusti • Dow • Elrod • Fairbank • Fischer • Frizzell • Gutierrez • Hall • Hardiman • Haynes • Howard • Jarvey • Jones • Jonker • Kapala • Kays • Laplante • Limbaugh • Lioi • Livingston • Maloney • Mauskopf • Mendez • Miller • Neff • O'Connor • O'Grady • O'Neill • Osteen • Ozerden • Reidinger • Sammartino • Schroeder • Settle • Smith • Snow • Southwick • Suddaby • Sullivan • Thapar • Tinder • Van Bokkelen • Wood • Wright • Wu | ||
| 2008 |
Agee • Anello • Arguello • Brimmer • Gardephe • Goldberg • Jones • Kethledge • Lawrence • Matsumoto • Melgren • Murphy • Scriven • Seibel • Slomsky • Trenga • Waddoups • White | ||
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Alaska • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Alaska
State courts:
Alaska Supreme Court • Alaska Court of Appeals • Alaska Superior Court • Alaska District Court
State resources:
Courts in Alaska • Alaska judicial elections • Judicial selection in Alaska
