Warren Matthews
Encyclopedia
Warren W. Matthews, Jr. is a retired jurist
, who served as the 8th and 12th Chief Justice
of the Alaska Supreme Court
. His service as a justice of that court from May 1977 to April 2009 makes him the second-longest serving justice in Alaska
history, slightly less than that of Jay Rabinowitz
.
Born in Santa Cruz, California
, Matthews graduated from San Benito High School
in Hollister, California
in 1957,, where he says he was inspired to become an attorney when one paid a visit to his classroom. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts
degree from Stanford University
in 1961 and his Juris Doctor
degree from Harvard Law School
in 1964.
Matthews came to Alaska in 1965 to serve as an associate
at the law firm
of Burr, Boney & Pease in Anchorage
. In 1969, he formed the law firm of Matthews, Dunn and Bailey. He served as ethics committee chair for the Alaska Bar Association from 1968 to 1974.
Then, in 1977, Republican
Governor Jay Hammond
appointed Matthews as an Associate Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court
. The other Supreme Court justices elected Matthews to be the 8th Chief Justice from 1987 to 1990 and as the 12th Chief Justice from 1997 to 2000. As Chief Justice, he also served concurrently as Chairman of the Alaska Judicial Council. The nation's other chief justices elected Matthews as second vice president of the Conference of Chief Justices
.
Matthews wrote the 4–1 majority opinion
in the 1981 Supreme Court case of Nix v. Alaska, in which he ruled that an undercover
police officer
gaining access to a residence was not a violation of the Fourth Amendment
prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures
, stating, "the use of undercover
police agents 'is a highly necessary tool in fighting crime.'"
In 2007, Matthews dissented
in the 3–2 Supreme Court decision of Alaska v. Planned Parenthood
in which the Court struck down Alaska's law requiring parental consent for minors to obtain abortions while Matthews supported the law, arguing: "Without a parent's consent, [minors] may not become licensed drivers or get married or obtain general medical or dental treatment." Later that year, Matthews wrote the dissenting opinion
in the 3–2 Supreme Court decision Godfrey, d/b/a Mendenhall Valley
Tesoro
v. State of Alaska, Community and Economic Development
, in which the Court supported Alaska's law holding retailers legally liable if their employees (even unknowingly) sold tobacco to minors. while Matthews opposed the law, arguing that the law was too broad in not allowing a retailer to argue that a clerk was not negligent.
Several of his former law clerk
s eventually went on to prominence in Alaskan politics: Supreme Court Justice Craig F. Stowers
, Attorney General
Daniel S. Sullivan
, and State Representative
Lindsey Holmes
.
Since retiring from the Supreme Court in 2009, Matthews has served as a pro tem judge.
Warren Matthews has been married to Donna since 1963. They have two daughters: Holly (born ca. 1974), a psychiatric social worker; and Meredith (born ca. 1978), an attorney in private practice.
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
, who served as the 8th and 12th Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of the Alaska Supreme Court
Alaska Supreme Court
The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court in the State of Alaska's judicial department . The supreme court is composed of the chief justice and four associate justices, who are all appointed by the governor of Alaska and face judicial retention elections and who choose one of their own...
. His service as a justice of that court from May 1977 to April 2009 makes him the second-longest serving justice in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
history, slightly less than that of Jay Rabinowitz
Jay Rabinowitz
Jay Andrew Rabinowitz was an American lawyer, jurist, and Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court four non-consecutive terms remaining active as a justice from February 1965 to February 1997.-Early life and career:Rabinowitz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a Jewish-American family...
.
Born in Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, Matthews graduated from San Benito High School
San Benito High School
San Benito High School is a school in Hollister, California, and serves as the primary high school for Hollister city residents and most county residents. The school’s current enrollment is approximately 2,700 students, served by 250 faculty and staff....
in Hollister, California
Hollister, California
Hollister is a city in and the county seat of San Benito County, California, United States. The population was 34,928 at the 2010 census. Hollister is primarily an agricultural town.-History:...
in 1957,, where he says he was inspired to become an attorney when one paid a visit to his classroom. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1961 and his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1964.
Matthews came to Alaska in 1965 to serve as an associate
Associate attorney
An associate attorney is a lower-level employee of a traditional law firm who does not hold an ownership interest as a partner.-Attorneys:An associate may be a junior or senior associate, but normally does not yet hold an ownership interest in the firm even if they have been associated with the...
at the law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
of Burr, Boney & Pease in Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
. In 1969, he formed the law firm of Matthews, Dunn and Bailey. He served as ethics committee chair for the Alaska Bar Association from 1968 to 1974.
Then, in 1977, Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Governor Jay Hammond
Jay Hammond
Jay Sterner Hammond was an American politician of the Republican Party, who served as the fourth Governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982.-Early life:...
appointed Matthews as an Associate Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court
Alaska Supreme Court
The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court in the State of Alaska's judicial department . The supreme court is composed of the chief justice and four associate justices, who are all appointed by the governor of Alaska and face judicial retention elections and who choose one of their own...
. The other Supreme Court justices elected Matthews to be the 8th Chief Justice from 1987 to 1990 and as the 12th Chief Justice from 1997 to 2000. As Chief Justice, he also served concurrently as Chairman of the Alaska Judicial Council. The nation's other chief justices elected Matthews as second vice president of the Conference of Chief Justices
Conference of Chief Justices
The Conference of Chief Justices was created in 1949 after the need for an organization composed of the states and territories top jurists was amply discussed at the American Bar Association and other juridical organizations. The first meeting, organized by the Council of State Governments and...
.
Matthews wrote the 4–1 majority opinion
Majority opinion
In law, a majority opinion is a judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision....
in the 1981 Supreme Court case of Nix v. Alaska, in which he ruled that an undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
gaining access to a residence was not a violation of the Fourth Amendment
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause...
prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures
Search and seizure
Search and seizure is a legal procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems whereby police or other authorities and their agents, who suspect that a crime has been committed, do a search of a person's property and confiscate any relevant evidence to the crime.Some countries have...
, stating, "the use of undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
police agents 'is a highly necessary tool in fighting crime.'"
In 2007, Matthews dissented
Dissenting opinion
A dissenting opinion is an opinion in a legal case written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment....
in the 3–2 Supreme Court decision of Alaska v. Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
in which the Court struck down Alaska's law requiring parental consent for minors to obtain abortions while Matthews supported the law, arguing: "Without a parent's consent, [minors] may not become licensed drivers or get married or obtain general medical or dental treatment." Later that year, Matthews wrote the dissenting opinion
Dissenting opinion
A dissenting opinion is an opinion in a legal case written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment....
in the 3–2 Supreme Court decision Godfrey, d/b/a Mendenhall Valley
Mendenhall Valley
Mendenhall Valley is an area of Juneau in the U.S. state of Alaska. The valley, named for physicist and meteorologist Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, was formed by Mendenhall Glacier over the course of roughly three thousand years...
Tesoro
Tesoro
Tesoro Corporation is a Fortune 100 and a Fortune Global 500 company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, with 2008 annual revenues of $28.3 billion, and approximately 5,600 employees....
v. State of Alaska, Community and Economic Development
Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development is a department within the government of Alaska. The Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development mission statement is to: "Promoting a healthy economy and strong communities."-External links:*...
, in which the Court supported Alaska's law holding retailers legally liable if their employees (even unknowingly) sold tobacco to minors. while Matthews opposed the law, arguing that the law was too broad in not allowing a retailer to argue that a clerk was not negligent.
Several of his former law clerk
Law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
s eventually went on to prominence in Alaskan politics: Supreme Court Justice Craig F. Stowers
Craig F. Stowers
Craig F. Stowers is an Associate Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court, who was appointed by Republican Governor Sean Parnell in 2009 to replace retiring Justice Robert Eastaugh...
, Attorney General
Alaska Attorney General
The Alaska Attorney General is the chief legal advisor to the government of the State of Alaska and to its governor. The Attorney General is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Alaska Legislature. The position has existed since the early days of the Territory of Alaska, though it was...
Daniel S. Sullivan
Daniel S. Sullivan
Daniel S. Sullivan is the current Attorney General of Alaska. Sullivan was appointed to his current office by then-Governor Sarah Palin in June 2009.-Early life and education:...
, and State Representative
Alaska House of Representatives
The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of about 15,673 people . Members serve two-year terms without term limits...
Lindsey Holmes
Lindsey Holmes
Lindsey S. Holmes is a Democratic member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 26th District since 2006.-External links:* official government website* profile*Follow the Money – Lindsey Holmes** campaign contributions...
.
Since retiring from the Supreme Court in 2009, Matthews has served as a pro tem judge.
Warren Matthews has been married to Donna since 1963. They have two daughters: Holly (born ca. 1974), a psychiatric social worker; and Meredith (born ca. 1978), an attorney in private practice.