th 2016 14 Annual Women of the Year Kicking Up Our Heels High Tea with the High Court

JUDGE DEBORRA GARRETT GEORGE UNIVERSITY, NATIONAL LAW CENTER, J.D., 1976 Before she was elected, Whatcom County had the distinction of being the largest populated county which had no women on their Superior Court bench. Deborra, a longtime Bellingham attorney in private practice, served as the selfless pro bono counsel to the YWCA and Womencare Shelter at a time when the county was seeing its first major increase in reported violence against women. In addition, she earned a reputation for handling principled issues such as successfully representing the Whatcom Public Library when it was subpoenaed by the FBI to release all names of people who had checked out books about Osama Bin Laden. Despite her lengthy community service, the open seat race was hotly contested. But Judge Garrett won and the first woman’s judge picture was finally placed on the wall of more than 50 previous judges: all men.

JUDGE VERONICA ALICEA-GALVÁN UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LAW SCHOOL, J.D., 1994 Judge Veronica Galván became the first Hispanic woman to serve on the King County Superior Court bench, having previously presided over the Des Moines Municipal Court where she operated a dual-language courtroom that allowed cases to be heard in Spanish or English. An adjunct instructor at the Seattle University School of Law, she taught a continuing legal-educational program emphasizing multilingual legal services and was an unrelenting advocate for the courts being ready, willing and able to serve and understand people in their own language. She was elected president of the District and Municipal Court Judges Association and awarded the Juez Excepcional Award from the Latino/a Bar Association of Washington in 2014.

JUSTICE BOBBE BRIDGE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LAW SCHOOL, J.D., 1976 Justice Bobbe Bridge is no ordinary advocate for what she believes. Bobbe lives her passion day- to-day, whether it be advocating for children falling through our many agency cracks—or leveling the playing field for women, people of color and members of the gay community. In our awards process, no fewer than 17 judges and justices (and these are just the women) recommended the former Justice for this award, saying she was the main reason they are on the bench now. Justice Bridge served 10 years on the King County Superior Court bench (including being its Presiding Judge). After her service from 2000 to 2007, she started one of the most prestigious youth justice programs in the country, Center for Children and Youth Justice—a premier model for juvenile justice and child welfare systems reform. Washington Supreme Court Justices Scheduled to Attend

CHIEF JUSTICE BARBARA A. MADSEN In 1992, the voters first elected Justice Madsen as only the third woman to serve on the Washington . She is the 55th of the Washington State Supreme Court. A graduate of Gonzaga University School of Law, Justice Madsen is from Renton.

JUSTICE DEBRA L. STEPHENS When Justice Stephens was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court in 2008, she became the first women from Eastern Washington to serve. She previously practiced law in Spokane and was a judge for Division III of the Court of Appeals. She lives in Spokane and is a graduate of Gonzaga University.

JUSTICE SHERYL GORDON MCCLOUD Justice Gordon McCloud was elected to the Washington Supreme Court in 2012. She clerked for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, worked as a public defender, then began her own practice. She lives in Kitsap County and is a graduate of the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

JUSTICE STEVE GONZÁLEZ Justice González was elected to the Washington Supreme Court in 2012. He was previously a trial lawyer, an Assistant U.S. Attorney and served on the King County Superior Court. He lives in Seattle and graduated from the University of California Berkeley School of Law.

14th Annual Kicking Up Our Heels High Tea with the High Court