Robert Cecil "Bob" Erwin (December 29, 1934 – January 24, 2020) was an American lawyer who served as a justice of the

Supreme Court of Alaska The Alaska Supreme Court is the state supreme court for the U.S. state of Alaska. Its decisions are binding on all other Alaska state courts, and the only court its decisions may be appealed to is the Supreme Court of the United States. The Alas ...

from August 3, 1970, to April 15, 1977. Born in

Seward, Alaska Seward (Alutiiq: ; Dena'ina: ''Tl'ubugh'') is an incorporated home rule city in Alaska, United States. Located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated on Alaska's southern coast, approxima ...

, Erwin was the younger brother of William Matthews Erwin, who would later be elected to represent the eastern

Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan trib ...

in the 1st and 2nd state legislatures. Erwin was a state prosecutor for the Nome area in the 1960s. He took the Alaska state

bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associa ...

in July 1960, in order to be able to practice in the state courts. As a prosecutor, he handled cases as mundane as failure to pay state school taxes, and as exotic as unlicensed polar bear hunting. Erwin was appointed to the court by Governor

Keith Harvey Miller Keith Harvey Miller (March 1, 1925 – March 2, 2019) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Alaska. Miller was the second List of Lieutenant Governors of Alaska, secretary of state of Alaska under Walter Jo ...

, and was only the second

democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to be appointed. Erwin was the only Alaskan-born justice until the 2007 appointment of

Daniel Winfree Daniel Edward Winfree (born February 1953) is an American lawyer who served as chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court from 2021 to 2023. He was appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court by Governor Sarah Palin in 2008. He was sworn in on February ...

. After seven years on the court, Erwin resigned, stating, "this is a crazy job and you sure can't help people from here"."Erwin returning to law firm", ''Fairbanks Daily News-Miner'' (January 25, 1977), p. 2. He returned to private practice in Anchorage, noting that as a private attorney he would be "able to take public stands" on political issues. From 2002 to 2003, Erwin served as the only Catholic member of a panel convened to investigate and report on sexual abuse of minors by the Catholic Church in Alaska."Abuse by priests dates back to 1966", ''Whitehorse Daily Star'' (October 31, 2003), p. 16.

References

1934 births 2020 deaths Justices of the Alaska Supreme Court People from Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska People from Nome, Alaska People from Seward, Alaska {{US-state-judge-stub