Sharon Louise Gleason
How Judge Gleason rules, drawn from 40 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Gleason
Sharon Louise Gleason is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Gleason received a commission on January 4, 2012.
Judge Gleason's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Gleason's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
- Procedure for Access and Management of Sealed, Restricted and Ex Parte Documents (Second Amended) ↗
- Procedures for the Filing, Service, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- Appointment of Counsel and Procedures for Compassionate Release Motions ↗
- Electronic Communication Devices in the Courtroom ↗
How Judge Gleason decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Cook Inletkeeper v. U.S. Department of the Interior, she found deficiencies in the environmental review for Lease Sale 258 and remanded without vacating the sale decision.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that BOEM violated NEPA in certain respects in its FEIS for Lease Sale 258. ... As such, the Court REMANDS WITHOUT VACATUR Lease Sale 258's Final EIS and the ROD for Federal Defendants to provide a supplemental EIS addressing the deficiencies identified above, and a modified ROD as warranted.”
In the Montiver coverage dispute, she read a specific collapse provision and its one-or-more-causes language together with a broader exclusion. The conflicting cause standards created an ambiguity resolved in favor of coverage.
“by using the ‘one or more’ causation standard in its Collapse section but referencing a dominant cause standard elsewhere, created a clear ambiguity as to what standard to apply under the Collapse provision, which ambiguity must be resolved in favor of the insured, meaning by application of the Collapse provision.”
Procedural preferences
In United States v. Baldwin, she adopted a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation in full and denied the defendant’s suppression motion.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Report and Recommendation at Docket 87 is ADOPTED in its entirety. The Court DENIES Defendant's Motion to Suppress at Docket 60.”
In Baxter’s insurance coverage suit, the court certified two Alaska law questions to the state supreme court, considered its answers and then granted the insurer’s dismissal motion.
“After the Alaska Supreme Court issued an opinion answering two questions certified by this Court,”
In White v. Greensky, she granted the defendants’ motion to compel arbitration and stayed the action pending that arbitration.
“Defendants' Motion to Compel Arbitration at Docket 9 is GRANTED. This action is STAYED pending completion of AAA Case No. 01-24-0007-7039 in arbitration.”
Cautions
In United States v. Tou Her, she denied compassionate release after finding that the defendant’s stated circumstances did not warrant a sentence reduction.
“In light of the foregoing, IT IS ORDERED that the motion at Docket 211 is DENIED.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS ORDERED that State Farm's Motion for Summary Judgment on Count I of Plaintiff's Complaint at Docket 27 is GRANTED.”
“the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on Counts One and Two at Docket 232 as follows: the Court GRANTS summary judgment to Defendants on Count 2; that claim is DISMISSED. The Court DENIES summary judgment to Defendants on Count 1.”
“the motions at Docket 75 and Docket 77 are DENIED.”
“The motion to dismiss the indictment without prejudice is GRANTED.”
“This action is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE for futility of amendment.”
“Upon due consideration, the motion is DENIED.”
“The Court GRANTS the Motion for Leave to file Sur-Reply and treats the filings at Docket 96 and 102 as such.”
“Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED with regard to Plaintiffs' due process claim for violation of the right to familial association pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment (Count Two). Count Two is DISMISSED with prejudice and without leave to amend. In all other respects, Defendants' Motion to Dismiss is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss at Docket 7 is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Complaint at Docket 1-1 is DISMISSED for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”
“the Government's motion to dismiss at Docket 61 is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The motion is GRANTED as to Counts I and II, which are each dismissed with prejudice. The motion to dismiss is DENIED as to Counts III and IV.”
“Express Scripts' Partial Motion to Dismiss at Docket 77 is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as set forth herein, and Express Scripts' Motion for a Partial Stay at Docket 83 is DENIED. The State's RICO claim is DISMISSED to the extent that it seeks equitable relief and damages for increased personnel costs for State employees.”
“Peak Gold's Motion to Dismiss Claim Two of Plaintiff's Amended Complaint at Docket 34 is GRANTED. The Tribe's second claim for relief related to Federal Defendants' failure to consult is DISMISSED with prejudice and without leave to amend.”
“the Court adopts the Report and Recommendation to Order Dismissal for Lack of Jurisdiction in its entirety, and IT IS ORDERED that this action is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for lack of jurisdiction.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Gleason's docket includes substantial federal-agency and environmental review tied to Alaska resource development, alongside admiralty, civil-rights, prisoner, habeas, labor, employment, consumer-credit, insurance, and criminal matters. Many civil cases resolve by settlement or voluntary dismissal before a contested dispositive ruling.
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 | 16 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 16 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 16 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 16 |
| Sep 2024 | 4 | 16 |
| Mar 2024 | 3 | 18 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 13 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 6 |
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.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the District of Alaska, not for Judge Gleason: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 235 | 10.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 38 | 10.3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 191 | 9.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 2 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 4 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 235 | 10.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 230 | 9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 259 | 6.3 months |
| Sep 2022 | 358 | 6.4 months |
| Sep 2021 | 281 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 263 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2019 | 336 | 8.3 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
Draft for Judge Gleason with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Gleason, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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