Cook a refreshing candidate

Thirty community organizations and hundreds of people have come together to promote needed reforms in our local criminal-justice system. The disproportionate contact and confinement of people of color is one discouraging outcome of a system biased at every decision point.

In the 1990s, I served as a victim advocate for over 10 years on the Spokane Regional Law & Justice Council, a body that took no steps to correct this outcome. There is no silver bullet to bring to bear as a remedy, but it is certain the system will not right itself.

Another prominent systemic problem is the flawed process for selection of judges. It is based on family connections, cronyism, and connections from Gonzaga Law School.

We have a refreshing candidate for Superior Court, though. Her name is Jocelyn Cook, and she has served for the last 11 years as a public defender.

Ms. Cook was educated at William & Mary, and at Whittier Law School, where she earned her JD magna cum laude. She is married to an innovative special education teacher, Tom, and they have two adorable children. Jocelyn is brave, authentic, honest, and very hard-working to make justice real. We need her on the Spokane bench.

Mary Ann Murphy

Spokane