By Erin Overbey
This November we vote. Or to be more exact, many of us already voted—as early as October 18, 2024. I have been putting off writing on this important topic because I feel especially clear this election season about what is important for us as a country, for us as a State, and even for the City of Seattle, where I live and vote. I feel like the stakes are so high. The notion that others feel differently than I do and might support someone else for President, for Governor, or for King County Superior Court bench is hard to bear this year. It feels terribly important because these are important decisions. Thinking about the possibility that someone I do not support could win these significant elections is simply hard to fathom. So, I have tried to avoid contemplating a result I disagree with.
However, I must accept that I have done what I can to pursue the outcomes that are important to me. I have encouraged the somewhat complacent folks I know, to get serious and vote. I have offered information resources to those who feel unprepared to vote for judicial candidates because they know almost nothing about them. I have made contributions in the places I felt were most important and even talked down some in the friend group who seemed especially on edge this election season. I cannot do anything more to change the outcome at this point.
I have been working on radical acceptance lately, which is not an easy assignment. We are trained to be advocates who push and nudge outcomes for a living. I have certainly lost sleep thinking about how my preferred outcome is the best outcome and what can I possibly do to get others to agree and adopt my solution. In reality, we cannot control choices others make, or judicial decisions, or the outcome of an election. What we can control is how we choose to act and think about the outcome of any issue or political race we care about.
There is a history in our country of weathering political storms, even when we are strongly divided or challenged. In 1800, some of the polarizing issues of the day included the recently passed Alien and Sedition Acts, which granted the President the authority to deport non-citizens who were subjects of foreign enemies and criminalized speech that was critical of the government. Despite strong division and equal elector votes for the office of President, this election is remembered as the first peaceful transfer of power from the Federalist Party of John Quincy Adams to the Democratic-Republican party of Thomas Jefferson. Less than 100 years later, the strong division over the ownership of other human beings ultimately escalated to a civil war and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, followed by the assassination of President Lincoln. Reconstruction after the Civil War brought the beginnings of national civil rights laws, followed by the institution of Jim Crow laws and violent actions by the Ku Klux Klan. A hundred and fifty years later we are still working toward equity and inclusion, and we do so as a democracy.
Even if the people I choose do not win their race, I am surrounded by other members of our profession that will not give up and will continue to focus on the road ahead. The KCBA is approving its legislative agenda for the coming year, focusing on legislation consistent with the KCBA’s mission, like supporting access to civil legal aid and funding for our courts. The KCBA Anti-Racism and Equity Committee is welcoming Judge Samuel Chung to its team, as the committee continues the work of diversifying our legal community. Our liaison to the American Bar Association continues to work toward a code of ethics for the U.S. Supreme Court that is more than aspirational ideals. It is a little easier to accept whatever outcome we have in our November 5, 2024, election because of the people who make up our legal community. Our community is resilient, intelligent, thoughtful and not about to be deterred by anyone trying to diminish or eliminate the rule of law.
