The highest court merits a deep field

Three of the nine seats on the Washington Supreme Court are up for challenge in November — the seats held by Justices Mary Fairhurst, Charles Johnson and Debra Stephens. At this politically late date, we know of only one announced opponent, and that is not enough. For democracy to work, the people need choices.

Our focus here is not to condemn the incumbents. But winning another six years on the most powerful court in the state should be an effort, not a cakewalk.

Our ideal of a challenger is a person of integrity, distinguished in the law. He or she should have a legal philosophy and be willing to defend it. Diversity is a plus; the court is currently all white. It is heavy with trial lawyers but has no criminal prosecutors, no business lawyers, no former legislators.

We note that the one named challenger, Michael J. Bond, of Gardner Bond Trabolsi in Seattle, practices business law. He states a philosophy — that "the most important role of the courts is to protect the people from the power of government and the vested interests." He is not widely known, however, and is dismissive of the need for money — and in these races a challenger probably needs $500,000.

For other names, we asked various court-watchers: Who would make a good justice?

An obvious choice is former Democratic legislator Mary Kay Becker, said to be one of the smartest judges on the Washington Court of Appeals and a clear writer. An intriguing choice would be Ronald Cox, who has quietly built a solid reputation on the same court. Cox is African American.

The mention of integrity brings to mind John McKay, appointed by President Bush to be U.S. attorney and then fired for not toeing the party line in the 2004 gubernatorial-election challenges. McKay would bring a prosecutor's eye to the court. So would his elder brother, Mike McKay, also a former U.S. attorney, as would former Yakima prosecutor Jeff Sullivan, the current U.S. attorney in Seattle.

There are many more good candidates than these (and we invite readers to suggest them by e-mail or on the Ed Cetera blog, http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/edcetera). Most of those named won't run because their interests are elsewhere or, as one judge complained to us, because of "the horrible undertaking" of raising money.

But some should. Democracy is not a system that sustains itself. It requires participants.