Who appointed Ralph R. Beistline?

President George W. Bush appointed Ralph R. Beistline to the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in 2002.

Was Ralph R. Beistline appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Ralph R. Beistline was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Ralph R. Beistline's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Ralph R. Beistline 98–0 on March 12, 2002.

District of Alaska / Appointed 2002 / Senior status since 2015

Ralph R. Beistline

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and confirmed by the Senate 98–0, Ralph R. Beistline is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. He earned a law degree from University of Puget Sound School of Law (now Seattle University School of Law) in 1974. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1948 · age 78
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2002
Confirmed: 98–0
Education: University of Alaska Fairbanks 1972 · University of Puget Sound Law (now Seattle School of Law) 1974
Succeeded: Hezekiah Russel Holland
Succeeded by: Joshua Michael Kindred

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2002	District of Alaska succeeded Hezekiah Russel Holland	G.W. Bush (R)	98–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 98–0 on March 12, 2002 · 107th Congress, Roll Call 46. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 98

50 D, 47 R, 1 I

Did not vote · 2

2 R

Rick Santorum(R-PA)
Arlen Specter(R-PA)

Education

University of Alaska Fairbanks	B.A.	1972
University of Puget Sound School of Law (now Seattle University School of Law)	J.D.	1974

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Beistline was assigned 2,066 district-court cases (1964–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 201 days across 1,952 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas18%

Personal-injury torts15%

Other civil matters13%

Contract12%

Civil rights11%

Social Security7%

Other24%

Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.

On appeal

Of 234 of Beistline’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 185 were affirmed, 41 reversed or vacated, and 8 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.

In our data, Beistline authored 26 published opinions for the court (2002–2011). Most cited: Alaska Right to Life Political Action Committee v. Feldman (10 citations).

A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Recent & notable rulings

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
2005	Alaska Right to Life Political Action Committee v. Feldman	380 F. Supp. 2d 1080	10
2006	Osborne v. District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District	445 F. Supp. 2d 1079	6
2008	O.S. Ex Rel. Sakar v. Hageland Aviation Services, Inc.	609 F. Supp. 2d 889	5
2005	Randall v. City of Fairbanks	352 F. Supp. 2d 1028	5
2010	Native Village of Point Hope v. Salazar	730 F. Supp. 2d 1009	3
2005	Gaule v. Meade	402 F. Supp. 2d 1078	3
2009	Anchorage School District v. D.S.	688 F. Supp. 2d 883	2
2005	Munhoven v. Northwind Marine, Inc.	353 F. Supp. 2d 1072	2
2011	American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Sullivan	799 F. Supp. 2d 1078	1
2010	Giordano v. PROVIDENCE HEALTH SYSTEM IN WASHINGTON	747 F. Supp. 2d 1137	1
2010	Hinkle v. CRUM & FORSTER HOLDING, INC.	746 F. Supp. 2d 1047	1
2005	Summar v. Potter	355 F. Supp. 2d 1046	1
2010	Miller v. Treadwell	736 F. Supp. 2d 1240	0
2010	Hinkle v. CRUM & FORSTER HOLDING, INC.	747 F. Supp. 2d 1132	0
2009	Bolt v. United States	652 F. Supp. 2d 1010	0

Showing the 15 most-cited of 26 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Ralph R. Beistline?: President George W. Bush appointed Ralph R. Beistline to the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in 2002.
Was Ralph R. Beistline appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Ralph R. Beistline was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Ralph R. Beistline's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Ralph R. Beistline 98–0 on March 12, 2002.
Which court is Ralph R. Beistline on?: Ralph R. Beistline is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

24 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).