By John Cary

Giving the KCBA President’s Award is one of the pleasures of the office. I take special pleasure in giving the award for 2005 to Judge Deborah Fleck.

Judge Fleck had the vision to see a concerted, statewide effort to address the crisis in court funding, leadership to bring disparate parties together into a common enterprise, incredible energy to pour into every step of the process, and clear focus to achieve successes in the 2005 legislature. She has long devoted herself to issues of families and children and to elimination of racial bias and disparity. But her public service does not end with these great commitments. She willingly takes on assignments in the public interest ranging from court governance to public education about the justice system. Judge Fleck exemplifies KCBA’s motto Justice... Professiona-ism... Service....

Judge Fleck understood that shrinking trial court budgets were not just the result of a downturn in the economy. She saw that they were the result of an antiquated, county-based funding system and a long-term habit of under funding the justice system. As president of the Superior Court Judges Association, Judge Fleck took action. She focused the association’s long-range planning retreat on the problem and began building a coalition by inviting bar leaders and judges from all levels of the court to the retreat.

The retreat led to formation of the Trial Court Funding Task Force under the aegis of the Board for Judicial Administration. Judge Fleck was not content merely to set the task force in motion. She wanted to make sure that it was successful. She served on the Task Force Steering Committee, co-chaired its Implementation Work Group (whose mission was to propose an effective way to carry recommendations into results), was a leading member of its Funding Alternatives Work Group (whose mission was to propose the source of funding), and joined many informal meetings of Task Force leaders.

Judge Fleck is a tireless worker. Whenever there was a significant meeting, she was there, actively involved and making sure that the meeting advanced toward Task Force goals.

Judge Fleck’s work bore fruit in the recent session of the legislature. Task Force legislation proposed the most significant reform of judicial branch funding since statehood. Even with state and local government in fiscal crisis, the legislature, with bipartisan and near unanimous support, agreed to the core principles of the legislation, increasing state support for trial courts, indigent defense, parents representation, and civil legal aid while assuring that existing local government funding will not be decreased. The legislation is a key step in transforming Washington’s 1880’s judicial funding system into a system consistent with modern demands and resources.

I have begun with Judge Fleck’s work on court funding because it was during the Task Force that I learned about the qualities that bring her the President’s Award. But, as one might expect, the Task Force is not Judge Fleck’s only work for justice, the profession and the community.

Deborah Fleck was inspired to become a lawyer by friends who were among the first Legal Service lawyers. From their involvement with poverty law, she saw that the law offered a way to pursue issues that she cared about. Her early passion for justice remains evident today.

As president of the Superior Court Judges Association in 2002 Ð 2003, Judge Fleck not only took on court funding but also worked to correct racial disparities in the application of drug laws. She identified changes in criminal law statutes to hold people accountable while focusing on treatment for non-violent drug-addicted defendants. She served on the legislatively-created committee to study issues in modifying the sentencing grid for drug offenses. She arranged for collection of data on drug-delivery cases that showed that 80 percent of King County drug cases involve very small quantities and that persons of color are significantly over-represented in people prosecuted for drug offences.

I highlight Judge Fleck’s work to eliminate racial disparities, improve treatment and rationalize the drug laws. Through its Drug Policy Project, KCBA shares the same goals.

The Minority and Justice Commis-sion was created by Supreme Court to determine whether racial and ethnic bias exists in the courts and, if so, to take creative steps to overcome it. Judge Fleck has been a member of the commission since 1996 and member of its executive committee and chair of its Workforce Diversity Subcommittee since 1998. She has helped to develop a roadmap for a diverse workforce in the courts. She recruits speakers for its Fall Judicial Conference in order to maintain the judiciary’s focus on diversity and equal opportunity in the courts.

Since she was appointed to the Superior Court in 1992, Judge Fleck has given special attention to families and children. She joined the King County Superior Court Family Law Committee when she first came to the court and chaired it for three years (1997 Ð 1997) when the committee developed guidelines for guardians ad litem and an open process for appointing commissioners pro tem. She helped to found and continues to oversee the Family Law Settlement Conference Program. She was a member of the Becca Task Force that preserved a vital program for at-risk juveniles and truancy prevention. At the statewide level, she chaired the Family and Juvenile Law Committee of the Superior Court Judges Association from 1998 to 2001. She convened a Leadership Colloquium in juvenile law before the annual Children’s Justice Conference in 2000, setting the stage for improving the system for neglected and abused children. We are not the first to notice Judge Fleck’s contributions to families and children. WSBA’s Family Law Section recognized her as Jurist of the Year in 1999.

The Board for Judicial Administra-tion adopts policies and provides strategic leadership for all levels of Washington courts, enabling the judiciary to speak with one voice instead of separately as appellate, superior, district and municipal courts. Judge Fleck was elected co-chair of BJA, serving with the Chief Justice, during 2003Ð05. She will continue as a BJA member until 2007

I have given a highly selective summary of Judge Fleck’s accomplishments. I have not mentioned her work on Project 2001, court governance, seismic retrofit at the King County courthouse, initiatives to educate the public about the justice system, and many other projects. It seems that Judge Fleck devotes all of her waking hours to public service. And I think that her level of energy and devotion means that she has many more waking hours than most of us.

Judge Fleck has given great service to justice, the profession and the community. She deserves the gratitude of the public and recognition by the King County Bar Association. n