State judges express views for diversity on the bench

A crowd that filled a lecture room at the WSU Smith Center Saturday afternoon received a wide spectrum of viewpoints from four judges serving at different levels of the state court system. The judges also provided some rare footnotes.

The panel served on a public symposium dealing with judicial diversity, part of a program presented by the league of Women Voters of Pullman and the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Service.

James Gibson, a professor of government at Washington University in St. Louis, began the session by describing research and surveys to determine if lack of diversity is a problem for the courts. Some of the research measured support for the courts in relation to diversity on the bench.

Justice Steven Gonzalez, who was appointed to the state supreme court at the start of the year after 10 years of service on King County’s Superior Court, began the panel presentations by asking “who thinks I’m at a disadvantage” for his campaign to be elected.

Gonzalez reported his pollsters told him his last name immediately puts him at three percent handicap at the start of the campaign.

He added he didn’t believe the race will be decided one way or another on ethnic background. He said he expects to prevail because voters will decide to election on the basis of merit.

Judge Cameron Mitchell, who has served on the Benton-Franklin superior court for eight years and currently co-chairs the juvenile justice advisor board, pointed out superior court judges are required to make family court and juvenile court decisions which deal more with the future of youngsters.

Judges in those settings are required to make decisions which require a level of cultural competence, something he feels can come from judges who have a background to apply. Judge Mitchell, who received his undergraduate degree at WSU and his law degree at Willamette, is the first African-American to be appointed to the Benton-Franklin bench.

Appeals Judge Laurel Siddoway, who was appointed to the state’s Division III appeals court in May of last year, gave a rundown on the increases in the number of women serving on the bench. Almost half of the appeals judges, 10 of 21, are women.

She added over 50 percent of the law school students are now women.

The judge said she believes diversity can be a benefit to judges, lawyers, witnesses and even jurors.

She also pointed out attorneys sometimes have to make difficult decisions when deciding to become a judge. In her own case, she was appointed by a Democratic governor who will be out of office when her name will go up before the electorate on the conservative side of the state served by the Division III court.

Judge Douglas Robinson of Whitman County District Court began his segment by pointing out members of the audience are most likely to face a district court judge.

“I see a lot of folks,” Judge Robinson said.

He added he feels the legitimacy of the court is based on how the people are treated. He said he has followed a self-pledge to listen and consider each case and explain the reasons behind each decision he makes.

Judge Robinson pointed out in his day-to-day service on the bench he deals with geographic diversity with a real difference in defendants from Kirkland and Bellevue and a defendant from Asotin.

He added he feels the state court system is headed in the right direction with more evidence of diversity apparent in the meetings he attends.