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Dori: Announcement of new SCOWA justice was a leftist mess

Apr 14, 2020, 6:39 AM | Updated: 10:09 am

helen whitener, Washington Supreme Court...

Judge G. Helen Whitener.

One crucial element was missing Monday as Gov. Inslee announced the newest appointee to the State Supreme Court. G. Helen Whitener will fill the seat of retiring Justice Charles Wiggins. In a 10 minute period during which Inslee introduced the judge, Judge Whitener spoke, and the media asked questions, we learned a lot of things about Whitener.

She’s an immigrant from Trinidad. Inslee bizarrely said, “I believe she is the first woman who is black in our community.”

Her bio tells us that Whitener and her wife are LQBTQI activists. And a 2015 article I found about her tells us she thinks the law is a “dynamic structure which must adjust to society.”

But after all that talk and all the research, there is one thing never mentioned: Our state constitution.

As Judge Whitener took questions from the media Monday, she was greeted by a liberal word salad, as one reporter asked, “I know you have had a tremendous focus throughout your career on equity, diversity and inclusiveness … how do you see your role as a Supreme Court Justice on advancing that work you have done?”

It is not the job of a Supreme Court Justice to advance social justice causes. It is their job to make rulings based on their constitutionality.

She replied, “as far as equity and inclusion … we are to be concerned about how our actions impact others.”

So, if she doesn’t like how someone’s action impacts another but the action is constitutional, which way will she rule?

When it came to the constitution during this press event … Zero. Nada. Zilch.

Democrats in our state have made clear their intent to finally achieve their Holy Grail — a state income tax. They will have to do an end-run around the constitution to achieve that goal. You would think that someone, anyone, in the press corps would have asked if she believes our state constitution is our absolute guiding legal document, or if it’s a “structure which must adjust to society.” Because ultimately, that’s infinitely more important than all the leftist buzzwords that were tossed around Monday.

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Dori: Announcement of new SCOWA justice was a leftist mess