Robert Eastaugh

Robert L. Eastaugh (b. 1943) was an associate justice of the five member Alaska Supreme Court. He was first appointed to the state's highest court in 1994 by then-governor Walter Hickel, a Republican.

Justice Eastaugh was subject to a retention election in November of 2008 for a new ten-year term on the court. He won this retention vote with 62.77% of the vote. Eastaugh retired from the court on November 2, 2009 and was replaced by Craig Stowers.

Career

Justice Eastaugh holds a B.A. in English Literature from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School

He was admitted to practice law in Alaska in 1968. He was an Alaska Assistant Attorney General from 1968 - 1969 and an Assistant District Attorney from 1969 - 1972. He was in private practice at Delaney, Wiles, Hayes, Reitman & Brubaker, Inc. between 1972 and 1994. His professional emphasis was on appeals. Governor Walter J. Hickel appointed him to the supreme court, and he duly took office on April 18, 1994. He has been co-chair of the Alaska Supreme Court's Fairness and Access Implementation Committee since 1998, has been a member of the Alaska Supreme Court's Appellate Rules Committee since 1985, chaired an Alaska Court System committee that revised personnel rules and procedures on discriminatory harassment, and was a Bar Examiner for the Alaska Bar Association in the early 1980's. He was a charter member of the Advisory Committee on Rules of Practice and Internal Operating Procedures for the Ninth Circuit, serving from 1983-1992. He chairs an Alaska Supreme Court committee to reduce appellate delay.

2008 retention election

In his bid for retention, Justice Eastaugh was unsuccessfully opposed by the Alaska Republican Party.,

The cases that the Alaska Republican Party cited in its objection to Eastaugh were:

• Alaska Department of Health and Social Services v. Planned Parenthood, a decision that requires the State of Alaska to pay for abortions through Medicaid.

• ACLU v. State of Alaska, a decision written by Eastaugh which determined that state and local governments in Alaska must provide the same employment benefits to same-sex couples that they provide to married couples.

• State of Alaska v. Planned Parenthood of Alaska, a 3-2 decision which overturned a statute that required teenagers who want an abortion to obtain either parental consent, or the permission of a judge.

External links

• Biographies of the Alaskan Supreme Court Justices
• 2008 retention recommendation for Eastaugh from the Alaska Judicial Council.
• Alaska 2008 judicial retention information (PDF). Scroll to pages 78-84.