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On June 4, 2020, the Supreme Court of the State of Washington issued to members of the bar of the state a remarkable letter on racism and the legal system. The Court stated in part:
“The devaluation and degradation of black lives is not a recent event. It is a persistent and systemic injustice that predates this nation’s founding. But recent events have brought to the forefront of our collective consciousness a painful fact that is, for too many of our citizens, common knowledge: the injustices faced by black Americans are not relics of the past. We continue to see racialized policing and the overrepresentation of black Americans in every stage of our criminal and juvenile justice systems. Our institutions remain affected by the vestiges of slavery: Jim Crow laws that were never dismantled and racist court decisions that were never disavowed.”
“We go by the title of ‘Justice’ and we reaffirm our deepest level of commitment to achieving justice by ending racism. We urge you to join us in these efforts. This is our moral imperative.”
The letter is signed by all nine Justices of the Court and may be found via a link on this page: http://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/?fa=newsinfo.pressdetail&newsid=35481