Richard W. Postma, Jr.

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Richard W. Postma, Jr.

Prior offices:

Alaska Third District District Court

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Education

Bachelor's

University of Colorado, Boulder

Law

University of Denver Law School, 1994

Richard W. Postma, Jr. was a district court judge for the Third Judicial District in Anchorage, Alaska. Judge Postma was appointed in 2007 by Republican Governor Palin. In 2010 voters voted against the retention of Postma, leaving a vacancy on the court.

2010 retention election

See also: Alaska Judges up for Retention Election in 2010 and Alaska judicial elections, 2010

Postma was not retained. 54.81% of voters voted against his retention on November 2, 2010.

Alaska Judicial Council report

The Alaska Judicial Council voted 5-1 to not recommend Postma for retention in 2010.

Education

After high school and before attending college, Postma served in the U.S. Army as an enlisted airborne infantryman. He was awarded an academic ROTC scholarship and received his bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He received his law degree from the University of Denver Law School in 1994, where he was a member of the law review. In 1995 he attended the U.S Army Judge Advocate General's School and the JAG Officer Basic Course. The next year in 1996 he attended a Federal Taxation Course at the U.S Air Force JAG School. In 1997 Postma returned to the U.S. Army JAG School to attend a Criminal Law Advocacy Course.

Professional career

Postma was an assistant attorney general in Anchorage in 2007, where he practiced employment and civil rights law, when he was appointed to the Alaska District Courts. After law school, Postma was a Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps and was a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. Between his public service as a military JAG officer and as an assistant attorney general for the State of Alaska, Postma worked for the Seattle-based law firm Lane Powell Spears & Lubersky, P.C.

Memberships and Associations

• Member of the Alaska Bar Association
• Member of the Tort & Employment Law Sections
• Member of the Anchorage Bar Association
• Member of the Alaska Supreme Court's Civil Rules Committee
• Inactive member of the Colorado Bar Association
• Inactive member of the American Bar Association
• Member and President-elect, Board of Directors of the Anchorage Bar Association

Conduct Commission complaint

A divided Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct filed a judicial conduct complaint against Judge Postma on May 4, 2010, after it hired an expert psychologist who examined and diagnosed Postma with situational anxiety characterized by panic attacks "when faced with an emotionally charged trigger, such as racial discrimination." The Commission alleges that Judge Postma's anxiety reaction to (1) racial and ethnic discrimination by a court employee, and (2) harassment and retaliation by another judicial officer render him mentally unstable and cause him to not cooperate with this court employee and judge. The Commission also alleges that Judge Postma demonstrated a lack of judgment by raising through internal channels his concerns about "perceived inequities in his case assignments and other administrative matters," and disparate treatment of himself and other minority court employees.

Judge Postma answered the accusation against him on June 1, 2010. Postma claims that the accusations against him were made in retaliation for his internal complaint a year earlier that he and a few court clerks who are African-American and Hispanic were being discriminated against by a court employee due to their ethnicity; he also claims that a presiding judicial officer and certain court administrators engaged in retaliatory harassment against him instead of addressing his concerns. Judge Postma has been placed on paid administrative leave until investigation of the allegations is complete.

On December 2, 2010, the executive director of the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct, Marla Greenstein, testified at a deposition that it is unlawful in Alaska for a judicial officer to report or oppose discriminatory conduct by court employees or other judicial officers. Greenstein testified that Postma's act of reporting and opposing discrimination within the Alaska Court System was the "paramount" reason for the Commission's disciplinary action against him.,

External links

• Judge Postma re-election campaign site
• Motion to Dismiss ACJC Complaint for Commission Misconduct, Sept. 24, 2010
• Anchorage Daily News, Who's Watching the Anchorage District Court House?, Sept. 24, 2010
• Anchorage Daily News, District Court Judge Makes His Own Case, Oct. 13, 2010 by Richard Postma
• Alaska Dispatch, "Postma settles Alaska judicial lawsuit," December 17, 2010

Footnotes

Alaska courts

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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