Andersen v. King County, 138 P.3d 963, formerly Andersen v. Sims, is a Washington Supreme Court case in which eight lesbian and gay couples sued King County and the state of Washington for denying them marriage licenses under the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. The court ruled that banning same-sex marriage is constitutional since the legislature could reasonably believe it furthers the government's interest in promoting procreation.
M. Fathima Beevi was an Indian judge who was a justice of the Supreme Court of India. Appointed to the apex Court in 1989, she became the first female judge to be a part of the Supreme Court of India, and the first Muslim woman to be appointed to any of the higher judiciaries in the country. On her retirement from the court, she served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission and later as the Governor of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu from 1997 to 2001. In 2023, she was honoured with Kerala Prabha Award, the second-highest honour given by the Government of Kerala. In the 2024 honours list, she was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Barbara Joan Pariente is an attorney and jurist from Florida. She was chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court from July 1, 2004, until June 30, 2006. Pariente is the second woman to hold the position of chief justice and served on the court from 1997 to 2019. From 1993 to 1997 she was a judge on Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal.
The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. Justices must retire at the end of the calendar year in which they reach the age of 75, per the Washington State Constitution.
Alice Robie Resnick is an American attorney and jurist who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Joette Katz is an American attorney who is a partner at the law firm, Shipman & Goodwin LLP. She was an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, where she also served as the administrative judge for the state appellate system, and later was the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. In various roles during her career she has had an impact on issues of state and national importance, such as: criminal law, capital punishment, civil rights and the right to education, eminent domain, same-sex marriage, LGBTQ rights, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and helping children in state care move from institutions to families.
Mary Elizabeth Fairhurst was an American attorney and jurist who served as a justice and chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court.
W. Michael Gillette is an American attorney and retired judge in the state of Oregon. He was a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, where he served from 1986 until 2010. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he was previously a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 1977 to 1986.
Jenny Anne Durkan is an American attorney, former federal prosecutor, and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Seattle, Washington. She is the daughter of Martin Durkan. Durkan is a member of the Democratic Party. After earning her Juris Doctor from University of Washington School of Law in 1985, Durkan began practicing law as a criminal defense lawyer and civil litigator. In October 2009, President Barack Obama appointed her United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington. She held that position until September 2014.
Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye is an American lawyer and jurist who was the 28th Chief Justice of California and is the president/CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. She was nominated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as chief justice on July 22, 2010, and retained in office by California voters on November 2, 2010, she was sworn in on January 3, 2011 as California's first Filipino and first woman of color to serve as California's Chief Justice. Prior to her appointment as chief justice, Cantil-Sakauye had served in judicial offices on California's appellate and trial courts. On July 27, 2022, she announced she would retire and not run for another 12 year term on the court in November and step down on January 1, 2023, leaving Governor Newsom to appoint her replacement. On September 28, 2022, the Public Policy Institute of California announced that Cantil-Sakauye would become its president and chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2023. On September 21, 2023, the Judicial Council of California voted unanimously to name the new Sacramento County courthouse after former Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
Mary Isabel Yu is an American lawyer who has served as an associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court since 2014. She served as a judge of the King County Superior Court from 2000 to 2014. She is the state's first openly gay, Asian American, and Latina justice. As of 2020, she is also the seventh woman serving and the eleventh woman ever to serve on Washington state's Supreme Court.
Steven Charles González is an American lawyer who has served as the chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court since January 11, 2021. He was appointed as an associate justice by Governor Christine Gregoire and took office on January 1, 2012. González replaced Justice Gerry L. Alexander, who retired upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.
Cynthia Anita Ackron Baldwin is an American jurist who was a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after serving sixteen years as a Pennsylvania County Court judge. Baldwin was the first African-American woman elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and the second African-American woman to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She retired from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2008. After her retirement from the Court, she became a partner with Duane Morris and served as the first General Counsel for the Pennsylvania State University.
Wilhelmina Marie Wright is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. She is the only jurist in Minnesota's history to be state district court judge, appellate court judge and state supreme court justice. She was formerly an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, a judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and a judge of the Minnesota District Court, Second Judicial District.
Walter Burges Beals was an American judge who served on the Washington Supreme Court from 1928 to 1946 and again from 1947 to 1951. He served as the chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court from 1933-1935 and from 1945-1946.
Loretta Hogan Rush is an American lawyer who has served as an associate justice of the Indiana Supreme Court since 2012 and as the chief justice since 2014.
Robert French Utter was an American attorney and jurist from Washington. He served as a King County Superior Court judge from 1964 until his appointment to the Washington Court of Appeals in 1968. In 1971 he was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court, where he served for 23 years, including two years as the chief justice. Utter is known for his opposition to the death penalty. He dissented in two dozen cases on capital punishment while on the court and resigned in 1995 in protest of it. After resigning from the court, Utter taught the first state constitutional law course in Washington State at the University of Puget Sound School of Law and traveled around the world to help developing nations create independent judiciaries. He died in 2014.
Debora Juarez is an American lawyer and politician serving as the president of the Seattle City Council. She was first elected in 2015 to represent the 5th district. A member of the Blackfeet Nation, she was the first Native American person elected to the council.
Barbara J. Vigil is an American attorney and jurist who served as a justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court from 2012 to 2021.
The 2021 Seattle City Attorney election was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent City Attorney Pete Holmes sought reelection to a fourth term in office, but came third place in the officially nonpartisan August 3 primary election and failed to advance to the general election, with both Nicole Thomas-Kennedy and Ann Davison finishing ahead of Holmes in the primary. Davison defeated Thomas-Kennedy in the general election.
