Steven Charles Gonzalez is an American lawyer and judge who has served as an Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court since January 1, 2012. Gonzalez replaced Justice Gerry L. Alexander who retired following reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.
Biography
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Gonzalez is descended on his father's side from refugees from the Mexican Revolution while his maternal ancestors immigrated at the turn of the 20th Century through Ellis Island from eastern Europe. Gonzalez was raised by his mother, who is Jewish, and for a time his paternal grandmother cleaned the dorms at his alma mater. Gonzalez graduated with honors from Pitzer College in Claremont, California with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies in 1985. While studying at Pitzer College, Gonzalez spent time studying abroad at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, and Nanjing University in China. He worked as a paralegal in Century City after graduation from college. Before law school, he received a scholarship from Rotary International to study international trade in Japan for 21 months. Following his study of Economics at Hokkaido University in Japan, he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law where he earned his J.D. and met his wife, Michelle Gonzalez. Upon graduation in 1991, Gonzalez passed the Washington State bar exam and was admitted to practice in November 1991. Gonzalez is fluent in English, Japanese and Spanish, and knows some Chinese. After a career in private practice, Gonzalez served as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Seattle where he prosecuted domestic violence cases including cases of elder and child abuse. He then served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington from 1997 to 2002. In March 2002 Governor Gary Locke appointed him as a King County Superior Court Judge. He won a contested primary that September, and was re-elected unopposed to four year terms in 2004 and 2008. Gonzalez's cousin is musician Ben Harper.
Legal career
Justice Gonzalez has worked with both criminal and civil law. During his time in private practice, Steve Gonzalez worked as an Associate in the Business Law Department of Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson in Seattle, WA. He then served as a Domestic Violence Prosecutor for the City of Seattle in 1996 and 1997, and subsequently as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington from 1997 to 2002. While serving as an Assistant United States Attorney, Gonzalez was part of the team that successfully prosecuted the international terrorism case US vs Ressam. He received the U.S. Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service and the Director's Award for Superior Performance for his work on the case. Within his community, Gonzalez has served on the Board of Directors of El Centro de la Raza and the steering committee of the Northwest Minority Job Fair.
Judicial career
In 2002, he was appointed to King County Superior Court by Governor Gary Locke. He was challenged, won the contested election, and served there for 10 years. Justice Gonzalez was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court in 2012 by Governor Christine Gregoire. Gonzalez replaced Justice Gerry L. Alexander who retired following reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice Gonzalez served on the Washington State Access to Justice Board for seven years, including two as Chair. He currently chairs the Washington Interpreter Commission and the Court's Security and Technology Committees. As a judge, Justice Gonzalez has received “Judge of the Year” awards from the Washington State Bar Association, the Washington Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Asian Bar Association of Washington. He also received the Vanguard Award from the King County Chapter of Washington Women Lawyers and the Exceptional Member Award from the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington. Beginning in 2017, he taught state constitutional law at Gonzaga University School of Law. In October 2018, Gonzalez concurred in the result when the court abolished the state's death penalty because they found its racist imposition violated the Constitution of Washington.
Electoral history
After being appointed to the King County Superior Court, Steve Gonzalez was elected to the bench in 2002 and subsequently won re-election in both 2004 and 2008. In 2012, Gonzalez won election to a full six-year term on the Washington State Supreme Court, Position 8, with nearly 60% of the vote. At that time, judicial elections occurred in the primary. The election was the subject of a significant news coverage due to Gonzalez's opponent's lack of qualifications and the racially polarized voting patterns in Central Washington. During the election, he was rated “Exceptionally Well Qualified” by the King County Bar Association and other bar associations. Gonzalez was re-elected to the Washington State Supreme Court in the 2018 election.
