Sullivan, Chambers Excellent Prospects

Criminal law takes up a large share of the Washington state Supreme Court’s time and ranks among the top concerns of voters when they struggle to evaluate Supreme Court candidates.

But of the court’s nine justices, only two had experience as county prosecuting attorneys - and one of those two, Richard Guy of Spokane, is about to leave the bench.

Guy had valuable background of another kind, as well. He is the only member of the court to have come from Eastern Washington. While it certainly is true that the law ought to be the same everywhere in the state, it also is true that judges ought to understand every part of our very diverse state. There’s a vast difference between the concerns of the downtown Seattle skyscraper district, where most of the justices came from, and the concerns of communities that struggle for a stronger economy and fight continually with state regulatory agencies whose rules were written to serve the Puget Sound metropolis and just don’t fit east of the Cascades.

This is why The Spokesman-Review strongly endorses Jeff Sullivan for the Supreme Court. If he is elected, he would bring to the court an outstanding background in criminal law and would be the only justice from outside the I-5 corridor.

Sullivan is Yakima County’s prosecuting attorney, a position he’s held for 26 years. He manages a staff of 33 attorneys and keeps on his toes by handling some of the most serious cases himself. He has argued cases successfully at all appellate levels, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He’s a leader in statewide policy issues. He’s accessible, courteous, known for keeping his word. He has grappled with tribal law and local-government law. He understands growth-management law from the standpoint of an agricultural area with room to grow. Born and raised in Yakima, he worked on farms as a boy, worked in a Spokane bank while attending law school and served as an infantry platoon leader in Vietnam. He’s backed by liberal and conservative judges alike, Guy included.

His opponent, Susan Owens, is a veteran Clallam County District Court judge. But District Court handles minor cases and is a far cry from the in-depth scholarship required on the Supreme Court.

The other Supreme Court race on the ballot is between Tom Chambers, a top Seattle trial lawyer with 30 years’ experience, and Jim Foley, who has worked for 10 years as a small-town lawyer, mostly in Pacific County. Foley, who hopes to capitalize on a last name that someone else made famous, simply does not have the amount of experience the Supreme Court requires. Chambers does. Chambers has broad support from both conservative and liberal judges and lawyers, and has served as president of the state bar association. He gets our endorsement.