Mary Yu

Mary Isabel Yu (born 1957) is an Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court and former judge of the King County Superior Court. She is the state's first openly gay Justice, the first Asian American Justice, the first Latina Justice, she is also the 6th woman currently serving and the 11th woman ever to serve on Washington state's Supreme Court.[2]

Hon

Mary Yu
Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court
Assumed office
May 20, 2014
Appointed byJay Inslee
Preceded byJames M. Johnson
Judge of the King County Superior Court
In office
2000 – May 20, 2014
Appointed byGary Locke
Preceded byJanice Niemi
Personal details
Born
Mary Isabel Yu[1]

1957 (age 62–63)[1]
Chicago, Illinois
Alma materDominican University (B.A.)
Mundelein of Loyola University (M.A.)
Notre Dame Law School (J.D.)

Early life and education

Yu was born in Chicago, Illinois to a Chinese father and Mexican mother.[3] She graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1975.[4] Yu then attended Dominican University and graduated in 1979 with a degree in theology.[4] In 1989, Yu earned a graduate degree in theology from Mundelein of Loyola University.[4]

After completing her undergraduate education, Yu went to work for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.[5] She was initially hired by Rev. Francis J. Kane as a secretary for the Office of Peace and Justice for the Archdiocese of Chicago, but eventually rose to become director of the Office of Peace and Justice.[4][6]

Yu enrolled at Notre Dame Law School in 1990.[6] She graduated with her J.D. degree in 1993.[4]

In 1999, King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng named Yu as his deputy chief of staff.[3]

In 2000, Washington Governor Gary Locke appointed Yu to replace retiring judge Janice Niemi on the King County Superior Court.[7]

Yu was considered a leading contender to replace Justice Bobbe Bridge on the Washington Supreme Court when Bridge retired in December 2007.[8] Ultimately, Governor Christine Gregoire appointed Debra L. Stephens to fill the vacancy.[8]

On December 9, 2012, at midnight, Mary Yu officiated the first same-sex marriages in Washington state.[9] Judge Yu's name (coincidentally pronounced as "marry you") was deemed "the perfect name for the job" by The Stranger columnist Dominic Holden.[10]

Appointment to Washington Supreme Court

On May 1, 2014, it was announced that Judge Yu was appointed by Washington Governor Jay Inslee to the Washington Supreme Court, making her the first openly LGBTQ member of the court, in addition to the first Latina-American and Asian-American.[11] She is the 11th woman to serve on the Washington Supreme Court (and one of six currently serving), the first person of Asian descent, the third person of Hispanic descent, and the first Hispanic woman.[12] Yu, who is openly gay, is also the first LGBT person to hold this position.[13] Yu is one of ten LGBT state supreme court justices currently serving in the United States.

She was sworn in on May 20, 2014 as an Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court.[14][15] Justice Yu ran unopposed in 2015 to complete the term and was the highest vote getter in the State.[16] Justice Yu was subsequently elected to the Supreme Court for a six-year term in 2016.

In October 2018, Yu joined the majority when the court abolished the state's death penalty because they found its racist imposition violated the Constitution of Washington.[17][18]

Personal

Yu resides in Seattle and in Olympia.[19]

Awards

Judge Yu is a Distinguished Jurist in Residence at Seattle University School of Law.[20]

Judge Yu was the recipient of the 2014 "Judge of the Year" Award from the Washington Association for Justice; the 2014 Betty B. Fletcher Judge of the Year Award from Washington Women Lawyers, King County Chapter; 2013 Municipal League Foundation "Public Official of the Year" award; 2013 Latina/o Amicus Award from Seattle University School of Law Latina/o Law Student Association; 2012 "President's Award" from the Asian Bar Association of Washington; the 2012 "Difference Makers Award" from the American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division; the 2011 "Judge of the Year" award from the Washington State Bar Association (shared with Judge Gonzalez); 2011 Seattle Girls' School Grace Hopper Award; the 2009 Norm Maleng Award from the Washington State Bar Association; the 2008 "Judge of the Year" award from the Asian Bar Association; the 2008 President's Award from Washington Women Lawyers; the 2006 "Model of Excellence" Award from the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington; the 2005, "Judge of the Year" award from the American Board of Trial Advocates, Washington Chapter (ABOTA); and the 2005 Reah Whitehead Public Leadership Award from Seattle University School of Law.[21]

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References
  1. http://www.courts.wa.gov/committee/pdf/2006AnnualReport.pdf
  2. Camden, Jim (May 2, 2014). "Inslee picks Mary Yu for Washington Supreme Court". The Spokesman-Review.
  3. Ronald K. Fitten, Top Prosecutor Is 'On Mission In Life' -- What Drives Her Is Need To Serve, The Seattle Times (June 7, 1999).
  4. Deborah D. Fleck, Mary I. Yu: Deputy Chief of Staff Office of the King County Prosecuting Attorney, Equal Justice Newsletter: Volume 3, Number 1 (March 2000).
  5. Maureen O'Hagan, A special ruling: judge of the year, The Seattle Times (November 26, 2005).
  6. Beth Barrett Bloom, Profile: Judge Mary Yu - Opening Doors and Passing on the Gifts of Mentorship Archived 2008-11-20 at the Wayback Machine, King County Bar Association.
  7. Alex Fryer, Governor fills 3 positions on court for King County, The Seattle Times (March 2, 2000).
  8. David Ammons, Gregoire picks Spokane jurist for high court, Associated Press (December 4, 2007).
  9. "Sunday was wedding day for same-sex couples in Wash. state". December 9, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  10. Dominic Holden (Dec 8, 2012). "Who's Marrying the First Gay Couple? Judge Mary Yu". The Stranger.
  11. Provenza, Nick (2 May 2014). "Assistant Metro Editor". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  12. La Corte, Rachel (May 1, 2014), "Mary Yu appointed to state Supreme Court", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, Washington, retrieved May 5, 2014
  13. "Inslee picks Mary Yu for Washington Supreme Court", The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington, May 2, 2014
  14. La Corte, Rachel (20 May 2014). "Washington's High Court Swears In First Openly Gay Justice". Huffington Post/AP. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  15. Camden, Jim (21 May 2014). "State Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu sworn in". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  16. November 3, 2015 General Election Results, Washington Secretary of State, Elections Division
  17. Note, Recent Case: Washington State Supreme Court Declares Death Penalty Unconstitutional In Washington, 132 Harv. L. Rev. 1764 (2019).
  18. State v. Gregory, 427 P.3d 621 (Wash. 2018).
  19. http://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts/supreme/bios/?fa=scbios.display_file&fileID=yu
  20. "Faculty: Justice Mary I. Yu Distinguished Jurist in Residence". Seattle University School of Law.
  21. http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/SuperiorCourt/judges/yu.aspx
Legal offices
Preceded by
James M. Johnson		 Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court
2014–present		 Incumbent
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