Aaron Christian Peterson

United States District Court for the District of Alaska Appointed by Donald Trump (Republican) 9 signed orders read

How Judge Peterson decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

On a request for a temporary restraining order he denies relief where the movant has not shown irreparable harm.

“the request for a TRO is DENIED ... the Plaintiff has not proved irreparable harm at this stage.”

Cautions

He examines his own subject-matter jurisdiction first and dismisses without prejudice where federal jurisdiction is lacking.

“the motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Contango Ore, Inc. is GRANTED because the Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the complaint. ... The complaint is thus DISMISSED without prejudice for lack of federal jurisdiction.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Mattila v. City of Wasilla
3:24-cv-00056-ACP · 2026-04-07
Dismissal for failure to prosecute Granted

“Each above captioned action is DISMISSED without prejudice for failure to prosecute.”

Bifelt v. McAfee
4:25-cv-00003-ACP · 2026-04-13
Dismissal for failure to prosecute Granted

“This action is DISMISSED with prejudice.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Moot / procedural

“All pending motions are DENIED as moot.”

Gunter v. Contango Ore, Inc.
3:25-cv-00307-ACP · 2026-04-23
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“the motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Contango Ore, Inc. is GRANTED because the Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the complaint. ... The complaint is thus DISMISSED without prejudice for lack of federal jurisdiction.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Moot / procedural

“The remaining motions to dismiss at Dockets 11 and 20 are DENIED as moot.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Moot / procedural
Kienitz v. Unknown Provider
3:25-cv-00374-ACP · 2026-05-21
Motion for appointment of counsel (plaintiff) Denied

“Plaintiff's motion for a court-appointed attorney at Docket 3 is DENIED.”

Preliminary injunction (plaintiff) Denied

“his requests at Dockets 16 and 17 are DENIED.”

Application to proceed ifp (plaintiff) Granted

“Plaintiff's application to proceed without prepaying the Court's filing fee is GRANTED.”

Davison v. Mooney
3:24-cv-00074-ACP · 2026-05-28
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“The motion for summary judgment is therefore GRANTED. ... Officer Mooney's motion for summary judgment at Docket 22 is GRANTED.”

Kenai Red Fish Company, LLC v. Fletcher Bay, LLC
3:26-cv-00215-ACP · 2026-06-12
Temporary restraining order (plaintiff) Denied

“the request for a TRO is DENIED ... the Plaintiff has not proved irreparable harm at this stage.”

Yelder v. Burgum
3:21-cv-00153-ACP · 2026-05-18
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“the Defendant's motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. ... For the above stated reasons, summary judgment is GRANTED in favor of Defendant.”

Freeman v. Safeco Insurance Company of America
3:26-cv-00184-ACP · 2026-06-23
Motions to remand (plaintiff) Denied

“Plaintiff's Motion for Remand at Docket 10 is DENIED. ... However, given Plaintiff's self-represented status and the strong presumption against removal jurisdiction, this denial is without prejudice.”

Hampton v. Hernandez
3:23-cv-00234-ACP · 2026-04-02
Motion for sanctions (plaintiff) Denied

“the Court finds that Hampton has not met the standard for awarding sanctions. The Motion is therefore DENIED.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

A sample of Judge Peterson's docket drawn from the public federal docket record. Because he joined the court in February 2026 to fill a seat that had been vacant for more than four years, his caseload combines a small number of cases filed since his appointment with older cases -- some dating back to 2019 -- that were reassigned to him from other judges once he took the bench. His docket to date includes federal and state habeas petitions, employment-discrimination and other civil-rights claims, prisoner suits, a civil forfeiture action, personal-injury and insurance removals, an immigration naturalization petition, and a federal criminal calendar, including two inherited prosecutions he carried through to sentencing shortly after they were reassigned to him.

Put Judge Peterson's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Peterson actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Peterson's own signed orders and cites them.