Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Washington Supreme Court issues open letter calling on judicial, legal community to work together on racial justice

Olympia, WA – This afternoon, Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra L. Stephens was joined by all justices of the Washington Supreme Court in signing an open letter to the legal community. 

The two-page letter reads in part, “The devaluation and degradation of black lives is not a recent event. It is a persistent and systemic injustice that predates this nation’s founding.  But recent events have brought to the forefront of our collective consciousness a painful fact that is, for too many of our citizens, common knowledge: the injustices faced by black Americans are not relics of the past…

The legal community must recognize that we all bear responsibility for this on-going injustice, and that we are capable of taking steps to address it, if only we have the courage and the will.” 

The letter further outlines what judges, lawyers and members of the Washington State Bar Association can do collectively and individually to advance that goal.

“We call on every member of our legal community to reflect on this moment and ask ourselves how we may work together to eradicate racism.”

The letter in its entirety can be found on the Washington Courts website at www.courts.wa.gov. Biographies of all nine justices on the Washington Supreme Court can be found here.