Deborah M. Smith
How Judge Smith rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Smith no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Smith
Deborah M. Smith served as a full-time United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Alaska from 2007 until 2021 and was its chief magistrate judge from 2014 until her retirement. She has since assisted the court in a recall capacity. Before joining the bench, she spent more than two decades as a federal prosecutor.
How Judge Smith decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In United States v. Dollison, Smith allowed limited discovery into whether a crime-lab analyst had altered evidence, but rejected broader requests as a fishing expedition in the Section 2255 proceeding.
“The defense has articulated good cause for further discovery, questioning whether the controlled substances or reference samples used in the Dollison case were consumed, altered or destroyed in any way by Palmer. As a result, out of an abundance of caution, this Court will grant the request for discovery in part... To order the release of this information based on the record before the Court would merely authorize a fishing expedition.”
Procedural preferences
In United States v. Martin-Lara, Smith recommended denying a suppression motion and a Franks hearing: the defendant could not challenge parcels he neither sent nor received, and the residential warrant still had probable cause after adding the claimed omissions.
“Even including these omissions, the affidavit provides ample evidence suggesting the parcel was brought inside 5511 Windflower Unit A and that there were other drugs inside. The affidavit also includes Martin-Lara's admission that there was heroin in his residence.”
In Ramirez v. Winter Blues, Inc., Smith recommended denying the vessel owner's pretrial motion to terminate maintenance. The owner's medical examiner and the seaman's treating physician disagreed about maximum medical improvement, so the evidence did not meet the district's unequivocal evidence standard.
“Given the conflicting determinations of Dr. Youngblood and Dr. Adcox, the defendant fails to meet the unequivocal evidence standard for pretrial termination of maintenance.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the magistrate judge's Final Report and Recommendation at Docket 40 is ACCEPTED, as supplemented herein, and the Petition for Habeas Corpus at Docket 1 is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Dollison's Motion for Leave to Conduct Formal Discovery in part, and denies it in part. (Doc. 91).”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court recommends that the District Court DENY Welton's Motion to Stay and Abey (Doc. 28).”
“Should Welton decline to delete her second claim, the Court recommends that the District Court GRANT the State's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 29), and dismiss the pending petition (Doc. 27) without prejudice.”
Final Report and Recommendation advising the district court to accept a consented guilty plea to money-laundering conspiracy and a related forfeiture admission. This was a non-adversarial plea proceeding, not a contested motion ruling.
“The action is recommended for DISMISSAL for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted and without leave to amend. It is further recommended that all pending motions be denied as moot.”
“The magistrate judge recommended that the Court deny the Motion to Supress. The Court has reviewed the Final Report and Recommendation and agrees with its analysis. Accordingly, the Court adopts the Final Report and Recommendation, and IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Suppress at Docket 36 is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the Second Amended Complaint is DISMISSED without leave to amend in federal court but without prejudice. In order for Mr. Stevens to pursue any viable claims in Alaska state court.”
“The magistrate judge recommended that the Court grant the Motion to Dismiss Without Prejudice. The Court has reviewed the Report and Recommendation and agrees with its analysis. Accordingly, the Court adopts the Report and Recommendation, and IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Dismiss Without Prejudice is GRANTED. The Court retains jurisdiction over this matter until Plaintiffs inform the Court that the settlement is finalized and seek a dismissal.”
Final Report and Recommendation advising the district court to accept a consented guilty plea to distribution of a controlled substance and a related forfeiture admission. This was a non-adversarial plea proceeding, not a contested motion ruling.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court recommends that the District Court DENY the Motion to Dismiss Indictment as to Enhanced Statutory Penalties (Doc. 81) as moot.”
“For the foregoing reasons, this Court recommends the District Court DENY defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Superseding Indictment (Doc. 615).”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court recommends that the District Court DENY the Motion to Terminate Maintenance at docket 39 and direct the defendant to continue maintenance payments until the issue is resolved at trial or by further order of the Court.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Smith's Anchorage work centered on criminal referrals, including initial appearances, arraignments, detention and bail-review hearings, guilty-plea proceedings, and search-warrant matters. Her civil referrals included habeas corpus, prisoner civil-rights screening, admiralty maintenance-and-cure disputes, and diversity and removal actions.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
A historical record
Judge Smith no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.