Warren Matthews
{{Short description|American judge}}{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Warren Matthews
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| office = Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court
| termstart = May 26, 1977
| termend = April 5, 2009
| nominator =
| appointer = Jay Hammond
| predecessor = Robert Erwin
| successor = Morgan Christen
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1939|4|5|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Santa Cruz, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Stanford University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)
| spouse =
}}
Warren Wayne Matthews Jr.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinamerica0000unse_p8u8/page/596/mode/2up|title=Who's Who in American Law 1992-1993|year=1991|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|page=596}} (born April 5, 1939) is an American lawyer and jurist who was a justice of the Alaska Supreme Court from 1977 to 2009. Matthews served as the 8th and 12th chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. His service from May 1977 to April 2009 makes him the second-longest serving justice in Alaska history, slightly less than that of Jay Rabinowitz.{{cite news|url=http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/112210/loc_739971739.shtml|title=Retired Supreme Court judge back behind the bench|work=Juneau Empire|date=November 22, 2010|author=Klas Stolpe}}
Born in Santa Cruz, California, Matthews graduated from San Benito High School in Hollister, California in 1957,{{cite book|title=State of Alaska Official Election Pamphlet|edition=Senate Districts E-J and House Districts 7-12|date=October 1980|publisher=Office of the Alaska Lieutenant Governor|location=Juneau|page=67}} 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.
Noted opinions
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.'"{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UhkfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RKcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3999%2C3491403|title=Supreme Court allows burglary conviction|work=Anchorage Daily News|date=January 17, 1981|author=Don Hunter|page=C1}}{{cite court|litigants=Nix v. State|vol=621|reporter=P. 2d|opinion=1347|court=Alaska|date=1981|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14796655354119979973}}
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."{{cite news|url=http://www.thealaskastandard.com/content/government-gets-between-you-and-your-child|title=Government gets between you and your child|work=Alaska Standard|author=Ralph Samuels|accessdate=March 29, 2011}}{{cite court|litigants=State v. Planned Parenthood|vol=171|reporter=P. 3d|opinion=577|court=Alaska|date=2007|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1364054107886569802}} 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. Matthews opposed the law, arguing that the law was too broad in not allowing a retailer to argue that a clerk was not negligent.{{cite news|url=http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/205112-retailers-in-bind-on-tobacco-after-alaska-sc-ruling|title=Retailers in bind on tobacco after Alaska SC ruling|publisher=LegalNewsline|date=December 11, 2007}}{{cite court|litigants=Godfrey v. State, Community and Econ. Dev.|vol=175|reporter=P. 3d|opinion=1198|court=Alaska|date=2007|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11849773750381852520}}
Legacy
Several of his former law clerks eventually went on to prominence in Alaskan politics: Supreme Court Justice Craig F. Stowers,{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=121138|title=Associate Justice Craig F. Stowers (AK)|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=March 28, 2011}} Attorney General Daniel S. Sullivan,{{cite web|url=http://www.law.state.ak.us/department/AGbio_Sullivan.html|title=Attorneys General of Alaska - Daniel S. Sullivan|publisher=Office of the Alaska Attorney General|accessdate=March 28, 2011}} and State Representative Lindsey Holmes.{{cite web|url=http://house.legis.state.ak.us/rep.php?id=hol|title=House of Representatives - Lindsey Holmes|publisher=Alaska State Legislature|accessdate=March 28, 2011}}
Since retiring from the Supreme Court in 2009, Matthews has served as a pro tem judge.
Personal life
References
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{{succession box | before=Robert Cecil Erwin | title=Associate Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court | years=May 26, 1977 – April 5, 2009 | after=Morgan Christen}}
{{succession box | before=Jay Rabinowitz | title=8th Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court | years=October 1, 1987 – September 30, 1990 | after=Jay Rabinowitz}}
{{succession box | before=Allen T. Compton | title=12th Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court | years=July 1, 1997 – June 30, 2000 | after=Dana Fabe}}
{{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Warren W.}}
Category:Stanford University alumni
Category:Harvard Law School alumni
Category:Justices of the Alaska Supreme Court
Category:People from Santa Cruz, California
Category:People from Hollister, California
Category:Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska