We are a diverse group of Alaskans who serve as members of the board for Alaskans for Fair Courts. We urge you to vote YES to retain every judge and justice on the ballot — including Judge Adolf Zeman.

We are two former attorneys general who were appointed by Republican governors, a retired tribal judge, a union leader, a civil rights advocate/community leader, a former Republican legislator who is also a commercial fisherman, several attorneys and a retired businesswoman.

While our political views on almost any matter span the broad political spectrum within Alaska, one very important belief unites us all: an unwavering belief that Alaska’s state judges should never be chosen or rejected based on partisan political agendas. We share a deep commitment to protecting judges who have met the highest of professional judicial standards and who have demonstrated a commitment to uphold Alaska’s Constitution and the laws of this great state. And we heartily applaud every judge whose decisions reflect their best effort to follow the laws and facts of each case — despite the popularity of any of their decisions.

Why should you care? Because Alaska’s state judges are the bulwark against attacks on the Alaska Constitution and the law. They handle 95% of all cases, affecting a wide variety of issues that affect all Alaskans, sometimes involving core constitutional rights that you value. A single judge makes dozens of decisions in a single day. This year, 15 judges/justices are on the general election ballot in the Third Judicial District, the largest judicial district in the state and home to two-thirds of the state’s population. It runs from Homer on the Kenai Peninsula, to Anchorage, including Dillingham and Kodiak and up to the Mat-Su.

Unlike many other states, Alaska’s judges do not run campaigns to become — or remain — a judge. Alaska’s Constitutional framers intentionally decided to keep money and partisan politics out of judicial selection and retention. After researching other states where judges ran political campaigns to be appointed to the court, Alaska’s framers concluded that Alaskans would be better served by judges who demonstrated integrity, knowledge of and commitment to the law, and who would be fair and impartial in conducting their courtrooms. The framers did NOT want judges to be looking over their shoulders worrying whether their decision would be unpopular. The framers wanted every Alaskan to be served by judges who represent “the best available timber.”

The framers also decided that judges should serve limited terms rather than lifetime appointments, requiring judges to “stand for retention” every few years by appearing on the ballot. Retention offers you an important role — to make the final decision about whether a judge should remain on the court based on their professional record.

We are confident that every judge and justice on the ballot this year has served Alaskans with honor, integrity, fairness, and a strong commitment to the law. Each has been rigorously evaluated by the Alaska Judicial Council, which has recommended a YES

Vote on all the judges.

This year, one judge has garnered a disproportionate share of attention — for the wrong reason. There is a campaign to remove Judge Zeman. The reason? Judge Zeman issued a ruling that public money cannot be used for purchases of private educational services because doing so violates Art. VII, Sec. 1 of Alaska’s Constitution, which prohibits the use of “public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.”

The campaign wants you to remove Judge Zeman because Judge Zeman’s ruling does not coincide with the campaign groups’ ideology.

This approach is no way to run an effective judicial system. Alaska’s judges are obligated to follow the law, wherever it takes them. That is their job. Alaskans cannot afford to allow popularity to run our courts. Rather, Alaskans want, and deserve, judges who, like Judge Zeman, do their very best to understand and follow the law, and who do so with integrity, fairness and impartiality and professionalism. Alaskans can never be well-served by judges who bend their decision-making to something that might seem popular to some but which violates the Constitution under which we live.

Judge Zeman, a lifelong Alaskan appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, received near-perfect ratings from attorneys, court employees, and, importantly, jurors.

Every Alaskan should be proud — and grateful — to have a judge of Judge Zeman’s caliber on the bench. He reflects the dedication and respect for the law and for those who come into his courtroom. We ask you to retain him. Join us and vote YES to retain every judge on the ballot, including Judge Zeman.

Donna Goldsmith, Tom Amodio, Bruce Botelho, Michael Geraghty, Joelle Hall, Barbara Hood, Erin Jackson-Hill, Debra Dzijuksuk O’Gara and Paul Seaton are board members for Alaskans for Fair Courts. Alaskans for Fair Courts is a nonprofit group of Alaskans from across the political and ideological spectrum who believe justice should not be for sale, judges should be selected and retained based upon their merit, and the framers of the Alaska Constitution got it right by keeping partisan and other politics out of the courtroom. Read more about their work at akfaircourts.com.