Joint Asian Judicial Evaluations Committee
Judicial Evaluations
Joint Asian Judicial Evaluations Committee
KABA is a proud member of the Washington State Joint Asian Judicial Evaluations Committee (JAJEC). Created in July 2006, the JAJEC includes members from KABA, the Asian Bar Association of Washington, the South Asian Bar Association, and the Vietnamese American Bar Association. Click here to read the JAJEC bylaws.
The JAJEC was created in part to ensure that judicial candidates are aware of and consider the issues important to the Asian Specialty Bars. All of our ratings are available to the public to educate voters of those candidates who meet the qualifications to serve on the judiciary as defined by the Asian Specialty Bars.
WHO WE EVALUATE
We evaluate individuals seeking either appointment or election to judicial office. We evaluate candidates for a variety of judicial positions, including: municipal and district courts, superior courts, superior court commissioner seats, courts of appeals, and the Washington Supreme Court.
WHAT OUR RATINGS MEAN
We do NOT endorse candidates for judicial office. Rather, we evaluate candidates by providing the public with our ratings. Candidates may be rated as follows:
A candidate may be rated exceptionally well qualified (EWQ), well qualified (WQ), qualified (Q), or not qualified (NQ) based on various factors including his or her integrity, fairness, legal ability, and demonstrated commitment to equal justice. The JEC chair notifies the Applicant of the rating within two days by phone or mail. This rating is valid for three years and ratings for candidates actively seeking positions are posted on this website. Although a rating is made public, all information disclosed by the Applicant or the Applicant’s references and all discussions of the Committee are kept confidential.
Ratings
Click on the headings below to sort.
| CANDIDATE | POSITION SOUGHT | JAJEC RATING | Rating Expiration Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard A. Melnick | Clark County Superior Court | EWQ | 2011/04/21 |
| Carin S. Schienberg | Clark County Superior Court | WQ | 2011/04/21 |
| Scott A. Collier | Clark County Superior Court | WQ | 2011/04/21 |
| Erika Balazs | Court of Appeals, Division III | Q | 2011/04/21 |
| Mary Fairhurst | Washington State Supreme Court | EWQ | 2011/05/12 |
| Jim Johanson | Snohomish County Superior Court | Q | 2011/05/12 |
| Charles Johnson | Washington State Supreme Court | EWQ | 2011/05/12 |
| J. Robin Hunt | Court of Appeals, Division II | EWQ | 2011/05/12 |
| Debra Stephens | Washington State Supreme Court | EWQ | 2011/05/12 |
| Patricia D. Powers | Yakima County Superior Court | WQ | 2011/06/16 |
| Leonid Ponomarchuk | King County Superior Court | EWQ | 2011/06/16 |
| Eric Lucas | Snohomish County Superior Court | EWQ | 2011/07/25 |
| Eric Lucas | Court of Appeals | WQ | 2011/07/25 |
| Eric Lucas | Washington State Supreme Court | WQ | 2011/07/25 |
| Donovan Flora | Court of Appeals, Division I | Q | 2011/07/25 |
| Ann Danieli | King County Superior Court | WQ | 2011/07/30 |
| Johanna Bender | King County District Court | WQ | 2011/10/16 |
| Johanna Bender | Seattle Municipal Court | WQ | 2011/10/16 |
| Daniel Goodell | Mason County Superior Court | EWQ | 2011/10/16 |
| John P. Erlick | Court of Appeals, Division I | EWQ | 2011/12/04 |
| Anne Harper | Auburn Municipal Court | WQ | 2011/12/04 |
| Anne Harper | King County District Court, Seattle Division | WQ | 2011/12/04 |
| Anne Harper | King County Superior Court | Q | 2011/12/04 |
| Rosanna Peterson | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington | WQ | 2011/12/11 |
| Susan Noonan | King County District Court | EWQ | 2012/01/30 |
| Adam Eisenberg | Seattle Municipal Court | EWQ | 2012/01/30 |
| Adam Eisenberg | King County District Court | EWQ | 2012/01/30 |
| Michael Spearman | Court of Appeals, Division I | EWQ | 2012/01/30 |
| Michael Spearman | Washington State Supreme Court | EWQ | 2012/01/30 |
| Eric Schmidt | King County Superior Court | WQ | 2012/03/25 |
| Daniel Stahnke | Clark County Superior Court | WQ | 2012/06/29 |
| Anne Ellington | Court of Appeals, Division I | EWQ | 2012/07/23 |
| Rebecca Robertson | King County District Court | WQ | 2012/07/23 |
| Rebecca Robertson | Federal Way Municipal Court | WQ | 2012/07/23 |
| Renee Walls | Federal Way Municipal Court | Q | 2012/08/31 |
| Rico Tessandore | Snohomish County Superior Court | Q | 2012/08/31 |
| Leonard Feldman | Court of Appeals, Division I | EWQ | 2012/09/21 |
| David Gregerson | Clark County Superior Court | WQ | 2012/09/21 |
| Mark Baum | Clark County Superior Court | Q | 2012/09/21 |
| Peter Fels | Clark County Superior Court | WQ | 2012/09/30 |
| David Larson | Federal Way Municipal Court | EWQ | 2012/09/30 |
| Michael Finkle | King County Superior Court | WQ | 2012/11/19 |
| Michael Finkle | King County District Court | EWQ | 2012/11/19 |
| Michael Finkle | Seattle Municipal Court | EWQ | 2012/11/19 |
| Ketu Shah | King County Superior Court | Q | 2012/11/19 |
| Ketu Shah | King County District Court | EWQ | 2012/11/19 |
| Donna Tucker | King County District Court | WQ | 2012/11/19 |
| Vicki Toyohara | King County District Court | WQ | 2012/12/02 |
| Rebeccah Graham | King County District Court | EWQ | 2012/12/17 |
| Elizabeth Martin | Pierce County Superior Court | WQ | 2012/12/17 |
| Roger Leishman | Court of Appeals, Division I | Q | 2012/12/17 |
| Roger Leishman | King County Superior Court | Insufficient Quorum to Rate | 2012/12/17 |
| Joyce McCown | Court of Appeals, Division III | EWQ | 2013/01/14 |
| Richard Larry Mitchell | King County District Court | WQ | 2013/01/14 |
| Marcine Anderson | King County District Court | WQ | 2013/01/14 |
| Carol Vaughn | King County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/02/05 |
| Ed Murphy | Pierce County Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/02/05 |
| Julia Garratt | King County Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/02/05 |
| Stephen Downing | Pierce County Superior Court | Q | 2013/02/05 |
| Christopher Keay | Pierce County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/02/19 |
| Donald Eaton | San Juan County Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/02/19 |
| Steward Andrew | San Juan County Superior Court | Q | 2013/02/19 |
| John Wickham | San Juan County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/02/19 |
| Richard Eadie | Court of Appeals, Division I | EWQ | 2013/03/02 |
| Sara Beth Derr | Court of Appeals, Division III | Q | 2013/03/02 |
| Stephen Shelton | Pierce County Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/03/02 |
| Beth Andrus | King County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/03/24 |
| Steven Rosen | Seattle Municipal Court | EWQ | 2013/03/24 |
| Linda Worswick | Court of Appeals, Division II | WQ | 2013/03/24 |
| Patti Walker | Court of Appeals, Division III | Withdrawn Before Rated | |
| Susan Troppmann | Court of Appeals, Division III | Withdrawn Before Rated | |
| Garold Johnson | Court of Appeals, Division II | WQ | 2013/04/20 |
| Scott Johnson | King County Superior Court | Q | 2013/04/20 |
| James Schacht | Court of Appeals, Division II | Q | 2013/04/20 |
| James Schacht | Pierce County Superior Court | Q | 2013/04/20 |
| Lauri Siddoway | Court of Appeals, Division III | EQW | 2013/05/21 |
| Philip Sorenson | Pierce County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/05/21 |
| Willie Gregory | Seattle Municipal Court | EWQ | 2013/05/21 |
| Johanna Bender | King County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/06/28 |
| Brian Altman | Klickitat/Skamania Counties Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/06/29 |
| David Meyer | King County District Court | Q | 2013/06/29 |
| Mark Vovos | Spokane County Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/07/16 |
| Karen Donohue | Seattle Municipal Court | EWQ | 2013/07/16 |
| Dave Tracy | King County District Court | EWQ | 2013/07/16 |
| Dennis Hession | Spokane Count Superior Court | WQ | 2013/07/16 |
| Greg Webber | Spokane Count Superior Court | WQ | 2013/08/23 |
| James Triplet | Spokane Count Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/08/23 |
| Steven Kinn | Spokane Count Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/08/23 |
| Brian Hipperson | Spokane Count Superior Court | WQ | 2013/08/23 |
| Matthew Williams | King County District Court | EWQ | 2013/09/17 |
| Joel Delman | King County Superior Court | Rating Withdrawn at Candidate's Request | 2013/09/17 |
| Lisa Sutton | Thurston County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/09/17 |
| Cecilia Cynch | Thurston County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/10/22 |
| Edsonya Charles | Seattle Municipal Court | WQ | 2013/10/22 |
| Tracy Mitchell | Thurston County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/10/22 |
| Christine Schaller | Thurston County Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/10/22 |
| Marilyn Haan | Cowlitz County Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/11/17 |
| Gary Bashor | Cowlitz County Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/11/17 |
| Robert Lawrence-Berry | Yakima County Superior Court | EWQ | 2013/11/17 |
| Richard Okrent | Snohomish County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/12/17 |
| Michael Evans | Cowlitz County Sup. Ct. | EWQ | 2013/12/17 |
| Jennifer Jo Rancourt | Snohomish County Superior Court | Q | 2013/12/17 |
| Lisa Micheli | Snohomish County Superior Court | WQ | 2013/12/17 |
| Michael Schwartz | Pierce County Superior Court | EWQ | 2014/01/20 |
| Wayne Fricke | Pierce County Superior Court | EWQ | 2014/01/20 |
| Kevin McCann | Pierce County Superior Court | Q | 2014/01/20 |
| Gary Johnson | Pierce County Superior Court | WQ | 2014/01/20 |
| Patrick Oishi | King County Superior Court | EWQ | 2014/03/17 |
| Lisa Tabbut | Cowlitz County Superior Court | EWQ | 2014/03/17 |
| Tobin Darrow | Snohomish County Superior Court | WQ | 2014/03/17 |
