In the past decade, Inslee has strived to make Washington\u2019s courts look more like the communities they serve<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.\u201d \u2014 Justice Sandra Day O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Justice Sandra Day O\u2019Connor, the first female Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote those words in 2003, in a decision affirming the right of institutions to seek and promote diversity within their ranks.<\/p>\n Seeing a wide range of lived experience and perspectives among the ranks of civic and government leaders has a powerful effect, particularly for communities of people who have historically been denied a seat at tables of power.<\/p>\n For Gov. Jay Inslee, who has sought to improve equity across Washington\u2019s legal justice system, increasing diversity on court benches has been an ongoing effort. He has sought to appoint judges and justices at every level of the court system that ensure the state\u2019s courts are more reflective of the people they serve. The governor\u2019s appointments have also created a pipeline of highly-qualified judges who are being tapped for higher courts. President Biden, like President Obama before him, has elevated some<\/a> of the governor\u2019s appointees<\/a> to the federal bench.<\/p>\n From district and county courts to the Washington Supreme Court, the personal stories of the judges the governor appointed are inspirational \u2014 and a reminder of the importance of inclusion across all branches of government.<\/p>\n Last week, on Jan. 9, the governor joined the swearing-in ceremony for Justice Mary Yu, who is starting her third term on the Washington Supreme Court.<\/p>\n Yu, who happens to be the first person the governor appointed to the state\u2019s highest court in 2014<\/a>, has a number of honorary \u201cfirsts\u201d to her name. She officiated at the first same-sex marriages in the state, and became the first Asian-American, first Latina, and first member of the LGBTQ community to serve on the Washington State Supreme Court. Growing up in a working class family on Chicago\u2019s south side, she was the first person in her family to go to college \u2014 a feat she was not always sure she would achieve.<\/p>\n Superior Court Judge Sean O\u2019Donnell explained the way Yu sets an example for her fellow judges.<\/p>\n \u201cJustice Yu, in many ways, is the conscience of the judiciary,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cIn her work, she recognizes the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law \u2014 that difference being people.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s next appointees to the state\u2019s highest court made history too. In 2019, the governor appointed Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis<\/a> to the state\u2019s highest court, making her the first Native American judge to serve on the Washington Supreme Court and the second Native American to serve on a state supreme court anywhere in the United States.<\/p>\n Most recently, in April of 2020, while 23 states still had supreme courts comprised entirely of white men, the governor appointed Justice G. Helen Whitener<\/a> to the state\u2019s supreme court. Whitener is the first Black woman on the court, and her appointment brings the total number of female justices on the state\u2019s highest bench to seven \u2014 more than any other state<\/a> in the union.<\/p>\n Justices have influence and impact beyond their courtroom decisions and deliberations. Yu, for example, devotes significant time and energy to mentoring young lawyers from historically underrepresented communities, including women, people of color and people with disabilities. Her work has contributed to Washington\u2019s strong pipeline of hard-working, talented people from a range of backgrounds consistently moving forward into leadership positions in the legal field.<\/p>\n Appointing more women and more people from communities of color to the bench has been a priority at every level of the court system in all parts of the state. Through the end of 2022, half of the governor\u2019s 158 judicial appointments were women, and thirty percent of the appointees are judges who identify as being from communities of color.<\/p>\n When Judge Camara Banfield<\/a> joined the Clark County prosecutor\u2019s office in 2004, there was just one woman on the Clark County Superior Court, along with eight men. Banfield, a former track and field star at the University of Oregon and gold medalist at the 1995 Track and Field World Championships, rose through the ranks to become the office\u2019s chief criminal deputy prosecutor. At the same time, Banfield committed herself to serving the community \u2014 joining the Vancouver School Board of Directors, volunteering with a Meals on Wheels program and coaching the county\u2019s youth in track and field.<\/p>\n When the governor took office in 2013, the Clark County Superior Court still had just one woman on the bench, out of nine seats. The governor made it a point to change that, and his last four appointments to the court have been women. In 2021, he appointed Banfield to the court, making her the first Black judge and first Black female judge to sit on the Clark County Superior Court bench.<\/p>\n On the other side of the state, in 2019, Governor Inslee also appointed the first Black female judge to the Spokane County Superior Court, naming Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren<\/a>, a former administrative law judge and assistant attorney general for the post. She continues to serve in that role with distinction, and in late 2022, President Biden formally recognized her talent and ability. He nominated Bjelkengren to serve as a federal judge for Washington\u2019s Eastern District, giving her another opportunity to make history as the first Black federal judge in Eastern Washington.<\/p>\n In other parts of Washington too, the governor has helped remake the judiciary to better reflect the community, appointing Judge Sonia Rodriguez True<\/a> to become the first Latina judge in the Yakima County Superior Court, Judge Janet Chung<\/a> as the first Korean American female to the Court of Appeals, and Susan Amini<\/a> to the King County Superior Court as the first judge of Middle Eastern descent to serve on a superior court in the state.<\/p>\n Another of the governor\u2019s judicial appointees, Judge Norma Rodriguez<\/a>, is the daughter of two migrant farmworkers and became the first Latina to serve on the Benton and Franklin Counties Superior Court in 2022. She summarized the importance of having a judiciary that reflects the people it is meant to serve.<\/p>\n \u201cI want the community to know that no matter what race you are, what language you speak, what your economic standing is, or what your background is, I will treat you impartially and with equality,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cIt is important for everyone to have equal rights and access to court law proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n Kathryn Leathers, the governor\u2019s general counsel, oversees the office\u2019s judicial appointment process and advises the governor on appointments. She reiterated the governor\u2019s commitment to advancing the causes of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal system, saying, \u201ccourts serve diverse communities, and the governor has sought to build a more diverse, representative judiciary in every community in our state.\u201d She explained that the governor \u201chas been intentional in this effort to foster more inclusive, more informed, more perspective-rich courts.\u201d<\/p>\n But transforming the judiciary is not the only way the governor has worked to correct long-standing disparities in the legal system. His administration has strived to increase access to legal help by protecting<\/a> and expanding<\/a> access to civil legal aid. The governor created a statewide council<\/a> to help people released from prison successfully re-enter society, launched a Marijuana Justice Initiative<\/a>, and established a moratorium on the state\u2019s death penalty<\/a> in 2014. Washington state\u2019s death penalty was later ruled unconstitutional<\/a> in 2018 largely due to racial disparities.<\/p>\n The U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s first Chief Justice, John Jay, once wrote, \u201cjustice is indiscriminately due to all, without regard to numbers, wealth, or rank.\u201d<\/p>\n As efforts continue to change the face of Washington\u2019s justice system and root out inequities, Washington is moving closer to that ideal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/miro.medium.com\/max\/640\/1*WyvCCqFiQ-N6zPEBDnm3HQ.webp)
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One of the most diverse Supreme Courts in the country<\/h2>\n
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Bringing change to every corner of Washington and every level of the courts<\/h2>\n
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Justice system changes beyond the bench<\/h2>\n