Appointed by Barack Obama Preceded by John W. Sedwick | Name Sharon Gleason | |
Alma mater Washington University
University of California, Davis Education Washington University in St. Louis, UC Davis School of Law | ||
Sharon Louise Gleason (born 1957) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. She is the first female judge to serve in the District of Alaska.
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Early life and education
Gleason earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979 from Washington University in St. Louis. She earned a Juris Doctor in 1983 from UC Davis School of Law. Gleason worked from 1983 until 1984 as a law clerk to then-Chief Justice Edmond Burke of the Alaska Supreme Court. She became a member of the Alaska state bar in 1984.
Professional career
From 1984 until 1995, Gleason worked at the law firm Reese, Rice and Volland in Alaska. She then served as a sole legal practitioner from 1995 until 2001, when she was appointed to the Alaska Superior Court. She then was retained by Alaska voters in 2004 and 2010.
Notable case
On July 31, 2015, Gleason ruled that environmental group Greenpeace USA will be fined $2,500 for each hour its activists block a Shell Oil (A Dutch owned corporation) icebreaking ship from leaving Portland by dangling from the St. Johns Bridge. The Shell icebreaker is part of the controversial move by Congress to allow a foreign-based corporation to drill in the arctic.
Federal judicial service
On April 6, 2011, President Obama nominated Gleason to the United States District Court for the District of Alaska to a vacancy that had been created by Judge John W. Sedwick taking senior status in March 2011. The nomination occurred on the recommendation of U.S. Sen. Mark Begich. On September 8, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported her nomination to the Senate floor by voice vote. The United States Senate confirmed Gleason in an 87–8 vote on November 15, 2011. She received her commission on January 4, 2012.