This morning at 9:30 at Olympia?s Temple of Justice, Bainbridge Island?s own Sheryl Gordon McCloud was sworn in for a six-year term as the newest Justice in the Washington Supreme Court. With her swearing-in as the fifth woman to serve on the Court, for the first time in its history Washington will have both a female majority on the Court and a female Chief Justice.
Barbara Madsen was re-elected by her Court colleagues in November for another four years as Chief Justice. Justice Madsen was first elected in 1992 as the third woman to serve on the Washington Supreme Court. She has since been reelected three times.?At the ceremony, also sworn in for six-year terms were Justice Steven C. Gonz?lez and, after re-election, Justice Susan J. Owens.
Governor-elect Jay Inslee, also a Bainbridge Islander, attended the event and made a few closing remarks.
After his swearing-in, which preceded that of McCloud, Justice Gonz?lez opened his remarks by praising McCloud and expressing eagerness at working with her.?Gonz?lez is the first Mexican-American to serve on the Court since its formation in 1889.
McCloud was presented to the court by her friend Jeffery Robinson, a Seattle attorney. He described her as ?fundamentally committed to the rule of law.? He said that, in her long career as a public defender, she had been passionate about protecting the rights of the underserved and that now she would apply that passion to her work as Justice. He said, when ?you really care? about something ?deep in your bones, you put yourself in a position to protect that thing that you care about.?
Robinson described how McCloud, who he said trains as a boxer, had watched the Sonny Liston-Cassius Clay boxing match way back in 1963 when she was in 3rd grade. Years later, when Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, was stripped of his title for refusing the draft, McCloud felt it wasn?t fair. Robinson said that soon after was the first time the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with her.
Robinson called her ?wicked smart.? He said that, after he first met her in 1985, he told a friend, ?I?ve just met the smartest woman I?ve ever talked with.?
When she walked to the front of the courtroom, McCloud received a standing ovation. Then she was robed by her husband, oldest son, brother, and best friend. She joined the other justices on the dais and hugged each one.
In her remarks McCloud thanked, among others, her father whom she said had told her that, like Ali, she too could ?float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.? She also spoke about the dangers faced by women in other countries and our nation?s history of genocide, complicity in genocide, slavery, and racial persecution, but she said, ?Not here and not now. What?s the difference? The rule of law.? She added, ?The rule of law raises us to our better selves.?
Following her remarks, outgoing Secretary of State Sam Reed presented each of the newly elected justices with certificates of election.
Governor-elect Inslee stood up and said, ?I?m merely an apprentice governor at this point.? He referred to the fact that this is the first time the court has a female Chief Justice and a female majority and the first time it has a Justice of Mexican heritage. He called it a ?great day in the history of the Washington Supreme Court.? He boasted that he now was neighbors with two Supreme Court Justices (McCloud and Justice Charles K. Wiggins, also from Bainbridge). Then he said he had to go: ?I?m going to go form a government so we can keep your lights on.?
According to tradition, the last-elected Justice selects who will give the benediction. McCloud chose U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik, who said that McCloud had told him she wanted the theme of her swearing-in to be one of inclusiveness and therefore hadn?t wanted to select a representative of any one faith. He proceeded to talk about the pursuit of justice as a form of faith. He quoted the Torah: ?One cannot claim to love God and fail to be passionate about justice.? He concluded by addressing the court: May you judge your cases to their true conclusion and you will spread the Divine presence throughout the State of Washington.?
Photos courtesy of TVW and Washington Courts. You can watch the ceremony here.?
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