In 1987 the Washington State Legislature mandated the Office of the Administrator for the Courts initiate measures to prevent gender and minority bias in the state court system. The Washington State Supreme Court established two task forces to conduct this work: the Gender and Justice Task Force and the Minority and Justice Task Force.

After two years of research, public hearing and surveys, the Gender and Justice Task Force concluded gender bias does exist in the Washington State court system and described the extent of that bias in its final report Gender and Justice in the Courts, Washington State, 1989. The Supreme Court appointed the Gender and Justice Implementation Committee to monitor the 75 Task Force report recommendations .

In 1994, the Supreme Court established the Gender and Justice Commission. Since then, the Court has renewed the Commission every five years with the latest order being signed March 15, 2010 (Order No. 25700-B-505).