Yesterday, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that was introduced by Alaska's Congressional delegation proposing that the Anchorage Courthouse be named after the late judge James F. Fitzgerald.
After the bill was passed by the House, a press release was put out by the office of Representative Young. In it, he states, “Judge Fitzgerald was an honorable man whose contributions to Alaska were tremendous. Throughout his life, as a Marine in World War II, a young prosecutor learning how to excel in the court of law, or the time he spent serving on Alaska’s highest court – Judge Fitzgerald stood up for right and wrong and in doing so always put his country and state first.
“The James M. Fitzgerald Federal Courthouse in Anchorage will now bear the name of a great man who truly made a difference in the state of Alaska.”
Judge Fitzgerald was born in 1920 in Portland, Oregon. udge Fitzgerald served in the United States marine Corps during World War II in the South Pacific. After his time in the military, Judge Fitzgerald went on to earn his LL.B from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon in 1951.
Before Alaska became a state Judge Fitzgerald served as an assistant United States Attorney in the First and Third Divisions of the territory. He later went on to open a practice in Anchorage, then became Governor William Egan’s legal counsel.
During the years between 1959 and 1974, Fitzgerald served as public safety commissioner, a Superior Court judge, and an associate justice of the Alaska Supreme Court.
In 1974, Judge Fitzgerald was appointed by President Gerald Ford and received his commission as District Court Judge. He would be elevated to Chief Judge in 1984 and served in that capacity until 1989 when he took senior status.
He retired in 2006.
This new legislation now must go to the desk of President Obama for his signature to become law.
