Richard B. Sanders
Richard B. Sanders is a former member of the Washington Supreme Court. He is a land use attorney and an advocate of property rights. He was elected in 1995 to a partial term to fill a vacancy on the court, defeating Rosselle Pekelis despite a "not qualified" rating from from the King County Bar Association. He was re-elected to two additional full six-year terms in 1998 and 2004. His judicial philosophy was libertarian and pro-life.
In 2010, Sanders ran for reelection and lost to Charlie Wiggins in one of the closer elections in Washington State. Major campaign issues were his statement that certain minority groups "have a crime problem" and his vote upholding a ban on gay marriage. In 2012 he ran and lost a bid to return to the Washington Supreme Court.
In 1976 Sanders was one of the first lawyers to defy the American Bar Association's Code of Professional Responsibility that proscribed public advertising.
