WA Justice Charles Johnson seeks another high court term

Justice Charles Johnson, the senior member of the Washington state Supreme Court, on Monday announced his bid for a fourth six-year term.

Johnson is one of three incumbent justices facing the voters this fall. Justice Mary Fairhurst, of Olympia, faces her first re-election bid and is expecting strong opposition, in part because she wrote the dissent that objected to the state's ban on same-sex unions.

Justice Debra Stephens, of Spokane, recently elevated to the bench by Gov. Chris Gregoire, also is on the ballot.

None of the three has drawn a direct challenge yet. Seattle attorney Michael Bond has filed with the Public Disclosure Commission, but did not list which seat he is running for.

Tom McCabe, head of the politically active Building Industry Association of Washington, said his organization considers the court races a high priority, right below the governor's race. He said his group likely will be active in one or more court races, using public disclosure and property rights as two main issues.

"We're really interested in the court, and the field is still shaking out," he said. "If the right candidate emerges, I believe BIAW will participate, most likely in the Fairhurst seat."

He said Bellevue attorney John Groen, whom the BIAW backed against Chief Justice Gerry Alexander two years ago, doesn't plan to run this year, for family reasons.

McCabe had nothing negative to say about Stephens _ "Everything I hear about her is positive" _ or about Johnson.

Johnson has nearly 18 years seniority on the state's highest court. He was a surprise winner of his first campaign in 1990. The Gig Harbor attorney had a solo law practice in Tacoma and hadn't served on the bench, but nonetheless ousted a sitting justice, Keith Callow. That led to speculation that voters had mistaken Johnson for a beloved King County jurist of the same surname. Johnson won again in 1996 and 2002.

In addition to his judicial duties, Johnson is a constitutional law scholar and teaches part time at the Seattle University Law School. He is co-chairman of the state Minority and Justice Commission and the Equal Civil Justice Funding Task Force. The American Bar Association's Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice honored his efforts in 2002.

He is a longtime board member of the Washington Association for Children and Parents and has volunteered as a reading tutor in Tacoma. He and his wife, Dana, live in Gig Harbor.

His campaign chairman, attorney Stuart Morgan, said it was appropriate that Johnson is kicking off his campaign during Sunshine Week, the national emphasis on transparency in government.

"The courts play a critical role in ensuring that governments strictly follow voter-approved laws requiring openness and accountability," Morgan said. "Justice Johnson has been praised for his keen understanding of the spirit and meaning of those laws."

Morgan, who managed Alexander's winning race two years ago, noted Johnson's strenuous dissent in a recent public records case out of Spokane that involved citizens' right to know about the death of a pupil who was fed a lunch with peanut products despite his known allergy to peanuts.

In a 5-4 ruling last December, the high court said documents relating to the child's death while on a school field trip could be withheld from The Spokesman-Review newspaper because of exemptions for attorney-client privilege and attorney work products.

"The majority essentially creates a public nondisclosure act, turning the act inside out so that documents are withheld from the public unless the public can demonstrate that no remotely connected litigation exists, past, present, or future," Johnson wrote in his dissent.

His campaign released endorsement statements from Kellye Testy, dean of the Seattle University Law School; former Republican Rep. Toby Nixon, a leader of open-government activists; and former justices Faith Ireland and Charles Z. Smith. Greg Overstreet, an Olympia attorney specializing in media and disclosure law, is his campaign treasurer.