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Joel Bolger

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He left Iowa with little money and not a lot of prospects. Listen back to a conversation about how a Coon Rapids-native came to serve as chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court.

Coon Rapids Native And Former Alaska Chief Justice Joel Bolger

Joel Bolger, a Coon Rapids native and University of Iowa College of Law graduate, recently retired as Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. Host Ben Kieffer speaks with Bolger about his Iowa roots, his life as a judge and the logistics of practicing law in the largest state, geographically, in the union.

Chief Justice Joel Bolger delivers the 2019 State of the Judiciary in February 2019 before the Alaska Legislature. (Photo by KTOO Public Media)Joel Bolger has served on the Alaska Supreme Court since 2013, and was selected by fellow judges to serve three years as its Chief Justice beginning in 2019.  The Alaska Supreme Court hears appeals from lower state courts, meeting monthly in Anchorage and quarterly in Fairbanks and Juneau. The Supreme Court also administers the state’s court system. The only court its decisions can be appealed to is the U.S. Supreme Court.  Bolger has broad legal and judicial experience throughout Alaska, including serving appointments to all four levels of the Alaska court system. Shortly after graduating from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1978, Bolger came to Alaska to serve as a VISTA volunteer attorney in Dillingham. He has said that growing up in small town Iowa was good preparation for living and working in rural Alaska.  His legal work took him across the state. He supervised an Alaska Legal Services office in Kodiak and worked as a public defender in Barrow in the early 1980s, and worked in private practice with Jamin, Ebell, Bolger &amp; Gentry through 1997. That firm was involved in Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation, an experience that attracted him to the judiciary. He was appointed as a District Court Judge in Valdez in 1997, a Superior Court Judge in Kodiak in 2003, to the Court of Appeals in 2008, and to the Alaska Supreme Court in 2013. As always, your questions and comments are welcome throughout the program. Join us to learn more about the role of the court and challenges the court system faces in Alaska.  HOSTS: Senior Judge Elaine Andrews and Kathleen McCoy GUEST: Chief Justice Joel Bolger, Alaska Supreme CourtChristine Johnson, Administrative Director, Alaska Court System LINKS: Alaska Supreme Court, Alaska Court SystemFAQs, Alaska Court SystemJoel Bolger bio, (PDF) Alaska state websiteLatest annual report, Alaska Court System 2018 (PDF 170 pg)‘Judge: Alaska’s justice system is failing in the case of slain Mountain Village woman,’ Anchorage Daily News and APM, 9.18.2019Order to delay the murder trial of Alexie Walters, PDF.2019 State of the Judiciary address by Joel Bolger, February 2019, KTOO Public Media‘Alaska Supreme Court chief justice asks AFN to help keep politics out of the judiciary,‘ Anchorage Daily News, 10.19.2019Chief Justice Joel Bolger address to 2019 AFN, select Day 2 of the convention, go to 1:27:32 to watch the speech.Facebook page, Alaska Court System Watch future Alaska Supreme Court arguments live on 360 North Gavel Alaska PARTICIPATE: Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live broadcast (2:00 – 3:00pm)Send e-mail to hometown@alaskapublic.org before, during or after the live broadcast (e-mails may be read on air)Post your comment or question below (comments may be read on airLIVE: Monday, October 21, 2019 at 2:00 p.mRE-AIR: Monday, October 21, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. 

Chief Justice Joel Bolger delivers the 2019 State of the Judiciary in February 2019 before the Alaska Legislature. (Photo by KTOO Public Media) Joel Bolger has served on the Alaska Supreme Court since 2013, and was selected by fellow judges to serve three years as its Chief Justice beginning in 2019. The Alaska Supreme Court hears appeals from lower state courts, meeting monthly in Anchorage and quarterly in Fairbanks and Juneau. The Supreme Court also administers the state’s court system. The only court its decisions can be appealed to is the U.S. Supreme Court. Bolger has broad legal and judicial experience throughout Alaska, including serving appointments to all four levels of the Alaska court system. Shortly after graduating from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1978, Bolger came to Alaska to serve as a VISTA volunteer attorney in Dillingham. He has said that growing up in small town Iowa was good preparation for living and working in rural Alaska. His legal work took him across the state. He supervised an Alaska Legal Services office in Kodiak and worked as a public defender in Barrow in the early 1980s, and worked in private practice with Jamin, Ebell, Bolger &amp; Gentry through 1997. That firm was involved in Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation, an experience that attracted him to the judiciary. He was appointed as a District Court Judge in Valdez in 1997, a Superior Court Judge in Kodiak in 2003, to the Court of Appeals in 2008, and to the Alaska Supreme Court in 2013. As always, your questions and comments are welcome throughout the program. Join us to learn more about the role of the court and challenges the court system faces in Alaska. HOSTS: Senior Judge Elaine Andrews and <a href="http://www.alaskapublic.org/about/people/kathleen-mccoy/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Kathleen McCoy</a> GUEST: <ul><li>Chief Justice Joel Bolger, Alaska Supreme Court</li><li>Christine Johnson, Administrative Director, Alaska Court System</li></ul> LINKS: <ul><li><a href="https://courts.alaska.gov/main/ctinfo.htm#supreme" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alaska Supreme Court</a>, Alaska Court System</li><li><a href="https://courts.alaska.gov/main/faq.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">FAQs</a>, Alaska Court System</li><li><a href="https://public.courts.alaska.gov/web/judges/docs/jhb.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Joel Bolger bio</a>, (PDF) Alaska state website</li><li><a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/fy18.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Latest annual report, Alaska Court System</a> 2018 (PDF 170 pg)</li><li><a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2019/09/18/in-case-of-slain-mountain-village-woman-judge-says-justice-system-public-defender-office-is-failing/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘Judge: Alaska’s justice system is failing in the case of slain Mountain Village woman,’</a> Anchorage Daily News and APM, 9.18.2019</li><li><a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Walters-a-Order.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Order to delay the murder trial of Alexie Walters</a>, PDF.</li><li><a href="https://www.ktoo.org/2019/02/20/2019-state-of-the-judiciary-address/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2019 State of the Judiciary</a> address by Joel Bolger, February 2019, KTOO Public Media</li><li>‘<a href="https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2019/10/18/alaska-supreme-court-chief-justice-wants-afn-to-help-keep-politics-out-of-the-judiciary/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alaska Supreme Court chief justice asks AFN to help keep politics out of the judiciary,</a>‘ Anchorage Daily News, 10.19.2019</li><li><a href="https://www.nativefederation.org/watch-convention-live/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chief Justice Joel Bolger address to 2019 AFN</a>, select Day 2 of the convention, go to 1:27:32 to watch the speech.</li><li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/AlaskaCourtSystem/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook page,</a> Alaska Court System </li><li>Watch future Alaska Supreme Court arguments live on <a href="https://www.360north.org/alaska-supreme-court/?category=Alaska%2BSupreme%2BCourt%2BOral%2BArguments&amp;clientID=2147483647&amp;id=127&amp;listingPage=1&amp;listingSortBy=descending&amp;listingStart=1989-10-09&amp;listingStop=2019-10-09" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">360 North Gavel Alaska</a></li></ul> PARTICIPATE: <ul><li>Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live broadcast (2:00 – 3:00pm)</li><li>Send e-mail to <a href="mailto:communityforum@kska.org">hometown@alaskapublic.org</a> before, during or after the live broadcast (e-mails may be read on air)</li><li>Post your comment or question below (comments may be read on air</li><li>LIVE: Monday, October 21, 2019 at 2:00 p.m</li><li>RE-AIR: Monday, October 21, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. </li></ul>

Meet Chief Justice Joel Bolger, Alaska Supreme Court