Steven Charles González (born 1963) is an

American lawyer ''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill.jurist who has served as the Chief Justice of the

Washington Supreme Court 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 retir ...

since January 11, 2021. He was appointed as an associate justice by Governor

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and ag ...

and took office on January 1, 2012. González replaced Justice Gerry L. Alexander, who retired upon reaching the

mandatory retirement Mandatory retirement also known as forced retirement, enforced retirement or compulsory retirement, is the set age at which people who hold certain jobs or offices are required by industry custom or by law to leave their employment, or retire. As ...

age of 75.

Biography

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, González is descended on his father's side from refugees from the Mexican Revolution; his maternal ancestors immigrated at the turn of the 20th century from eastern Europe. González was raised by his mother, who is Jewish, and for a time his paternal grandmother cleaned the dorms at his alma mater. González graduated with honors from Pitzer College in Claremont, California, with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian studies in 1985. While at Pitzer, he studied abroad at

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

in Tokyo and

Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU; ) is a national public research university in Nanjing, Jiangsu. It is a member of C9 League and a Class A Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government. NJU has two main campuses: the Xian ...

in China. He worked as a paralegal in Century City after graduation from college. Before law school, González received a Rotary International scholarship to study international trade in Japan for 21 months. After studying economics at

Hokkaido University , or , is a Japanese national university in Sapporo, Hokkaido. It was the fifth Imperial University in Japan, which were established to be the nation's finest institutions of higher education or research. Hokkaido University is considered ...

, he enrolled at the

University of California, Berkeley, School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of ...

, where he earned his J.D. and met his wife, Michelle Gonzalez. After graduating in 1991, Gonzalez passed the Washington State bar exam and was admitted to practice in November 1991. González is fluent in English, Japanese and Spanish, and knows some Chinese. After a career in private practice, González served as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Seattle, where he prosecuted domestic violence cases including cases of elder and child abuse. He then served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington from 1997 to 2002. In March 2002 Governor Gary Locke appointed him a King County Superior Court Judge. He won a contested primary that September, and was reelected unopposed to four-year terms in 2004 and 2008. González's cousin is musician

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

Legal career

González has worked in both criminal and civil law. While in private practice, he worked as an Associate in the Business Law Department of Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson in Seattle. He then served as a Domestic Violence Prosecutor for the City of Seattle in 1996 and 1997 and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington from 1997 to 2002, during which time he was part of the team that successfully prosecuted the international terrorism case ''US vs Ressam''. He received the U.S. Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service and the Director's Award for Superior Performance for his work on the case. González has served on the board of directors of El Centro de la Raza and the steering committee of the Northwest Minority Job Fair.

Judicial career

In 2012, Governor

appointed González to the Washington Supreme Court. He replaced Justice Gerry L. Alexander, who retired upon reaching the

age of 75. Before joining the Supreme Court, González served on the Washington State Access to Justice Board for seven years, including two as Chair. He chairs the Washington Interpreter Commission and the Court's Security and Technology Committees. On November 6, 2020, González was elected to be Chief Justice by his peer, effective January 11, 2021. González has received “Judge of the Year” awards from the Washington State Bar Association, the Washington Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Asian Bar Association of Washington. He also received the Vanguard Award from the King County Chapter of Washington Women Lawyers and the Exceptional Member Award from the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington. Beginning in 2017, he taught state constitutional law at

Gonzaga University School of Law The Gonzaga University School of Law (also known as Gonzaga Law or GU Law) is the professional school for the study of law at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Established in 1912, the Jesuit-affiliated law school has been fully accredi ...

. In October 2018, González concurred in the result when the court abolished the state's death penalty because they found its racist imposition violated the

Constitution of Washington The Constitution of the State of Washington is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of Washington. The constitution was adopted as part of Washington Territory's path to statehood in 1889. An e ...

Electoral history

After being appointed to the King County Superior Court, González was elected to the bench in 2002 and reelected in 2004 and 2008. In 2012, he was elected to a full six-year term on the Washington State Supreme Court, Position 8, with nearly 60% of the vote. At that time, judicial elections occurred in the primary. The election was the subject of significant news coverage due to González's opponent's lack of qualifications and Central Washington's racially polarized voting patterns. During the election, he was rated “Exceptionally Well Qualified” by the King County Bar Association and other bar associations. González was reelected to the Washington State Supreme Court in 2018. On November 5, 2020, he was elected by his peers to serve as chief justice. He took office as chief justice on January 11, 2021.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Steven 1963 births Living people 21st-century American judges 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews American judges of Mexican descent American lawyers of Mexican descent Assistant United States Attorneys Chief Justices of the Washington Supreme Court Hispanic and Latino American judges Justices of the Washington Supreme Court People from California Pitzer College alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni

Biography

Legal career

Judicial career

Electoral history

See also

References