RE-AIR: Washington Supreme Court Justice Helen Whitener Hacks & Wonks

Washington Supreme Court Justice Helen Whitener returns to catch up with Crystal about the last two years on the state’s highest court and her bid for re-election this November. The two talk about Justice Whitener’s path to the Supreme Court, how coming from a marginalized background with an intersecting lens impacts her time there, and the impacts COVID has had on making the courts accessible and navigable by everyone. The Supreme Court’s “June 4th Letter” from 2020 sparks conversation about addressing systemic injustice and Justice Whitener shares two recent decisions she wrote about shackling and restrictive covenants. The show wraps up with discussion of the future of the court system and what to weigh when choosing Supreme Court justices.
Note: 
This episode was recorded before the end of filing week in May. The candidate filing deadline passed without any challenger filing to run against Justice Whitener, so she will appear unopposed on the November ballot and serve another term on our state’s highest court.
As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com.
Find the host, Crystal, on Twitter at @finchfrii.
 
Resources
Campaign Website - Justice G. Helen Whitener: https://www.keepjusticewhitener.com/
 
Previous appearance on Hacks & Wonks (Sept 15, 2020) - Justice Whitener: The Law, Representation, and Becoming a Supreme Court Justice:https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/crystal/HW20200911JusticeWhitener_mixdown.mp3
 
Washington Supreme Court - “June 4th Letter”:https://www.courts.wa.gov/content/publicUpload/Supreme%20Court%20News/Judiciary%20Legal%20Community%20SIGNED%20060420.pdf
 
“Washington Supreme Court Announces Prohibition Against Blanket Shackling Policies at Pretrial Proceedings” by Anthony Accurso from Criminal Legal News: https://www.criminallegalnews.org/news/2020/nov/15/washington-supreme-court-announces-prohibition-against-blanket-shackling-policies-pretrial-proceedings/
 
Washington Supreme Court - State v. Jackson - Slip Opinion: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/976813.pdf
 
Washington Supreme Court - In re That Portion of Lots 1 & 2 - Slip Opinion: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/995982.pdf
 
“Washington Supreme Court reverses its 1960 ruling that allowed Seattle cemetery to discriminate against a Black family” by David Gutman fromThe Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/washington-supreme-court-reverses-its-1960-ruling-that-allowed-seattle-cemetery-to-discriminate-against-a-black-family/
 
Justia - Price v. Evergreen Cemetery Co. of Seattle: https://law.justia.com/cases/washington/supreme-court/1960/34854-1.html
 
Transcript
[00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes.
Today, I am absolutely thrilled to welcome back to the program Justice Helen Whitener, Justice on our Washington Supreme Court. Thank you so much for joining us again.
[00:00:50] Justice G. Helen Whitener: Thank you and nice to see you and be with you again, Crystal.
[00:00:54] Crystal Fincher: Excellent to see you and be with you again. Well, this time two years ago, around this time, we had a conversation - you were running your campaign to win your first election after being appointed as a Supreme Court Justice. And it's been so phenomenal for so many people who have watched you throughout your illustrious career and followed you - just to give people a bit of a background, and we talked about this on