Mary Kay Becker (born 1946) has served as a

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

on the

Washington Court of Appeals The Washington Court of Appeals is the intermediate level appellate court for the state of Washington. The court is divided into three divisions. Division I is based in Seattle, Division II is based in Tacoma, and Division III is based in Spokan ...

, a former

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...

, Democratic member of the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

and

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

Background and early career

Becker was born in

Aberdeen, Washington Aberdeen () is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2020 census. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis. Aberdeen is occasi ...

, and grew up at her family's ocean resort at Kalaloch. She is a graduate of Lake Quinault High School, and earned her undergraduate degree from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1966. After moving to Bellingham in 1969, Becker began her career as a paralegal for Northwest Washington Legal Services. She served as an early editor of the

underground newspaper The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rec ...

''Northwest Passage''. "Crusading newspaper close to going under"
''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'' July 10, 1984; p. A7 In 1974 she wrote the fictional ''Superspill: An Account of the 1978 Grounding at Bird Rocks'' (Madrona Press, Seattle) with Patricia Coburn. From 1975 to 1983, she served as a Democratic

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

for the 42nd district. Described at the time as "one of the most articulate voices in the Legislature", "one of the bright lights of the state Democratic party" and "an unequivocal liberal", she chose not to run for re-election in 1982.

Legal career

She earned her law degree in 1982 from the

University of Washington School of Law The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington. The 2023 '' U.S. News & World Report'' law school rankings place Washingt ...

and worked as a private practice lawyer until 1994, when she was appointed to the Court of Appeals. She has also worked as a member of the

Whatcom County Whatcom County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Canadian Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts of British Columbia) to the north, Okanogan Cou ...

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

(1984–85) and on the

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

(1989–1994).

Judgeship

She was elected to the Court of Appeals position in 1994.Official biography of Judge Becker
/ref> She was

retained In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a retained firefighter, also known as an RDS Firefighter or on-call firefighter, is a firefighter who does not work on a fire station full-time but is paid to spend long periods of time On call shift, on call to ...

by voters in 2000 and 2006 and she completed her service in 2019. In 2004 she was an unsuccessful candidate for

state Supreme Court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by #Terminology, other names in some states) is the supreme court, highest court in the State court (United States), state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of State law (United States), st ...

., losing by 1,086,319 votes (47.97%) to rival Jim Johnson's 1,178,194 (52.03%).

Family life

Becker lives in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...

, with her husband, fellow lawyer Bill Johnston. They have two children, Joe and Maureen.press release at time of her 2000 run for Supreme Court

External links

Members of Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Mary Kay Stanford University alumni University of Washington School of Law alumni Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Politicians from Bellingham, Washington Women state legislators in Washington (state) Washington Court of Appeals judges American women judges Living people 1946 births