WASHINGTON STATE — Gov. Bob Ferguson made his first appointment to the Washington State Supreme Court, announcing civil rights attorney Colleen Melody will replace retiring Justice Mary Yu.
Ferguson made the announcement on Monday at the Temple of Justice.
Colleen Melody has devoted her career to standing up for those who often don’t have a voice in our justice system,” Ferguson said. “As Attorney General, I worked extremely closely with Colleen, where I had a front row seat to her immense legal skills, prodigious work rate, and passion for justice. Her public service has made our state and nation a more equitable place. She will make an excellent justice.
Melody has led the Attorney General’s Office Wing Luke Civil Rights Division since Ferguson created the division as Attorney General in 2015.
Thank you to Governor Ferguson for the honor of this appointment, and to Justice Yu being such an example of true public service,” Melody said. “Washington’s courts are cornerstones of our democracy. I look forward to working with all my judicial colleagues to ensure that Washington’s courts serve as a model of independence, excellence, and access to justice.
Melody will succeed Justice Yu following her retirement at the end of the year, according to Ferguson’s office.
I have had the good fortune of knowing Justice Yu very well for a long time,” Ferguson continued to note. “Justice Yu is a historic figure in our state and a trailblazer in many ways. She leaves an impressive legacy and very big shoes to fill on this Court.
A native of Spokane, Melody attended the University of Washington and the University of Washington School of Law, where she graduated first in her class. In 2015, then Attorney General Ferguson hired her to lead the Washington State Attorney General’s Wing Luke Civil Rights Division, according to Ferguson’s office.
Melody presided over the division’s growth to 35 lawyers, investigators, and professional staff, while also leading some of its most significant cases.
“Her work on the litigation to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) led to a 2018 court order that is still protecting DACA recipients today,” wrote Ferguson’s office. “That case preserved the deferred-removal status and employment authorization for nearly 20,000 Washington Dreamers, allowing them to pursue an education, start businesses, get jobs, and build families in what is, for many of them, the only home they have ever known.”
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Ferguson’s office also noted that Melody was awarded the Legal Foundation of Washington’s Charles A. Goldmark Distinguished Service Award in 2018 and the American Immigration Lawyers Association Jack Wasserman Memorial Award in 2017.
