Tell us about your community growing up. Looking back, how did they shape who you are now?

I was born and raised on the island of Trinidad and Tobago. This was a cosmopolitan environment, in that I am from a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural environment. I am a mixture of many people, Carib Indians, Venezuelan, African and Caribbean people. I have family members also with different ethnicities. For example, my religious upbringing was that of the Anglican Church (the church of England), but my culture celebrated Hindu festivals such as Diwali, and Muslim festivals as well. The food I eat are influenced by the people on the island, African, East Indian and Chinese. I believe because of my intersecting background based on race, language and religion that I tend to see similarities where others may see differences.

Describe your journey to law school. What motivated you to apply?

A colleague at an accounting firm I worked at who also was an attorney mentioned it to me. He attended Seattle University School of Law (when he went, it was UPS Law School). I researched it and the rest is history. My mother, before becoming a teacher, wanted to be an attorney and I have attorneys and a judge in my extended family all back home or in England. Also, if you ask my mother she would tell you that I loved to argue. I guess when approached it seemed like a good fit.

What was your law school experience like?

Intense. I worked three jobs while attending. I was one of five Black students. I did not meet anyone who was Black, LGBT, immigrant, and with a disability. Even today, I am the state’s only Black openly LGBT judge, and when appointed to the Supreme Court, I became the first Black LGBT State Supreme Court Justice in the entire country. I was lucky to have parts of me represented in most of my classes. I found strength in my intersecting identities with each class and learned to understand how much it was a benefit. I developed my intersecting lens in law school where I see legal issues and resolutions broadly.

Did you know about appellate work in law school? If not, when and how did it first get on your radar and why were you drawn to it?

I did not learn about appellate work in law school. I learned about it through working as a Rule 9, as a Prosecutor and then later as a Public Defender. I learned about the importance of the appellate court’s work from a litigation perspective. The importance of making a good record for an appellate purpose was again reinforced when I became a Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals Judge. I cannot say that I was drawn to it as it just seemed like a natural progression from my trial work on all three levels of the trial court.

Tell us about one of your appellate cases that you found particularly meaningful.

Honestly, so far, all of the cases have been meaningful. However, given the changing landscape within which the law as we know it is being challenged a few stand out for different reasons. First, State v. Jackson was my first opinion on this court and it was also a majority opinion. Of significance is I had an opportunity to discuss the historical use of shackling of people of color within the American criminal justice system and why its use requires an independent analysis by the court. 195 Wn.2d 841, 467 P.3d 97 (2020). Then in 2021, I authored a dissent in Green v. Pierce County, a case that required us to decide what is considered “news media.” With the use of nontraditional sources like Facebook, Twitter, and the like, to obtain news, I wrote that a YouTube channel could count as “news media”. 197 Wn.2d 841, 859, 487 P.3d 499 (2021). Finally, in March of 2022, in a majority opinion, I held that we as a people must ensure that future generations have access to documented history of disenfranchised people even when that history is morally repugnant. In re that Portion of Lots 1,2. (May v. Spokane County). For me, the meaningfulness comes from seeing the law develop to embrace and protect the lives and livelihood of not just individuals, but all people within our state. I am humbled to be part of this amazing process.

How often do you encounter other LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly those of color, in the appellate field? Why do you think that representation is important?

Occasionally, but it is rare. Representation helps build trust and confidence in the legal field as well as in the judiciary. It moves us from viewing laws and situations in a monolithic way. This is the reason I mentor as much as I do. I ask one thing of all of my mentees, and that is please find someone to mentor, share the opportunities that you receive. We have to be in the room where decisions that impact us are occurring. There are many tables and there is room at those tables for more of us. I can’t sit at all of the tables, but together we can cover more than I ever could alone.

When we become gatekeepers, it is imperative that we be “intentional gatekeepers” and offer opportunities within our spheres of influence to others and the experiences necessary to help them advance to the next level.

What advice would you give to a law student of color who aspires to be where you are now?

Be intentional and understand that you matter, your voice matters. Also, believe in yourself and as you move up in whatever legal field you choose, reach back and always bring forward at least one other person with you.

What’s one thing law schools and/or the appellate bar can do to ensure our highest courts are representative of all our communities?

I have been the first in many areas of the legal profession, so I am a big advocate for creating opportunities for non-traditional groups of people. I offer clerkships and externships to all, but I am also an intentional gatekeeper to accessing opportunities for marginalized individuals. This does not mean I accept substandard candidates, it means that I seek qualified individuals from non-traditional lanes.