After a slim election victory in November, Sal Mungia is formally Washington’s latest state Supreme Court docket justice.
Mungia, together with present justices Steven Gonzalez and Sheryl Gordon McCloud, had been sworn in Monday morning in an overflowing courtroom on the Temple of Justice in Olympia. Gonzalez and Gordon McCloud each received reelection unopposed. All three had been elected to six-year phrases.
The courtroom’s longest-serving justice, Charles Johnson, additionally swore in a brand new chief justice. Justice Debra Stephens is taking on the seat from Gonzalez, who had been chief justice since 2021. The justices choose a brand new chief justice each 4 years. Stephens has been on the Supreme Court docket since 2008. She beforehand served as chief justice starting in 2020.
Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson lauded the significance of an unbiased judiciary at Monday’s ceremony. He mentioned he used to take it without any consideration, however can’t anymore.
“As governor, I’ll do whatever I can to stand in front of any group of people who will have me and talk about how important, how important our entire judiciary is,” Ferguson mentioned.
On election night time, Mungia’s place on the bench was far much less sure. Within the preliminary outcomes, Mungia, a trial lawyer, trailed Dave Larson, a Federal Manner Municipal Court docket decide, by lower than 1,100 votes.
However as election officers counted extra ballots, Mungia surpassed Larson and constructed a lead, ultimately profitable by about 20,000 votes, of practically 3.3 million solid statewide.
Although the race was nonpartisan, Mungia had the backing of progressives and nearly all the sitting justices. Larson boasted the assist of the state Republican Get together.
The retirement of Justice Susan Owens on the finish of 2024 left the state Supreme Court docket seat up for grabs. Justices need to retire at age 75 and Owens had reached that threshold.
Mungia, born in Tacoma to immigrants from Mexico and Japan, served 38 years as a civil trial and appellate legal professional in personal observe earlier than becoming a member of the courtroom. He additionally clerked for a state Supreme Court docket justice.
He was on the committee of attorneys that drafted a courtroom rule adopted in 2018 to decrease racial bias in jury choice in Washington courts.
Monday wasn’t Mungia’s first swearing in. He’s been on the courtroom since Jan. 2 to complete out the ultimate days of Owens’ time period. His arrival means nearly all of the courtroom is now made up of individuals of shade.
Mungia known as being a lawyer “the coolest thing in the world.”
“You all who are still lawyers and are hoping to be lawyers can make the difference in a life,” Mungia mentioned in his remarks Monday. “You can speak up for those who don’t have a voice. You give hope to those that have lost sight of what hope is. You can give justice to those who’ve been robbed of justice. That is the core value of our profession.”
On Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court docket is about to listen to arguments in a dispute over the state’s ban on the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines.