Timothy Mark Burgess | |
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Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska | |
Assumed office December 31, 2015 |
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Preceded by | Ralph R. Beistline |
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska | |
Assumed office January 23, 2006 |
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Appointed by | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | James Keith Singleton, Jr. |
Personal details | |
Born |
Timothy Mark Burgess 1956 (age 60–61) San Francisco, California |
Political party | Republican |
Education |
Cañada College A.A. University of Alaska Fairbanks B.A., M.B.A. Northeastern University School of Law J.D. |
Timothy Mark "Tim" Burgess (born 1956) is the Chief United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska.
Burgess was born in San Francisco, California. He received an Associate of Arts degree from Cañada College in 1976. He then attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks on a basketball scholarship, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978 and a Master of Business Administration degree in 1982. He received his Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law in 1987. He went into private practice in Anchorage, Alaska, with the law firm then known as Gilmore & Feldman from 1987 to 1989. Burgess served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Alaska from 1989 to 2001 and then as the United States Attorney until 2005.
He was nominated by George W. Bush on July 28, 2005 to the seat on the United States District Court for the District of Alaska vacated by James Keith Singleton, Jr.. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 21, 2005 and received commission on January 23, 2006. He became Chief Judge on December 31, 2015.
Judge Timothy Burgess struck down the ballot referendum-passed Alaska Ballot Measure 2, which instituted an amendment to the Alaska State Constitution that read "To be valid or recognized in this State, a marriage may exist only between one man and one woman." Burgess opined that the ban of same-sex marriage was a violation of the U.S. constitutional guarantee of due process and equal protection