Happy new year! I hope you had a great holiday season and are having a good start to 2023.
2022 was a mixed bag for me. I leave behind some low moments while rejoicing in some high ones, too. Personally, and professionally, 2023 brings much promise, and I look forward to seeing how the year unfolds.
At KCBA, we ended the year strong with an increase in membership. KCBA continues to be a pillar in our legal community providing services, CLE and networking opportunities as always to our members.
Talking of members, I am excited to let you know that we have a new Membership Director. For the first time ever, the person taking this role is an attorney. Bridget Schuster worked at Williams Kastner. Having an attorney who understands our members’ needs, wishes and aspirations will be immensely helpful as we find ways to serve you better. Welcome, Bridget!
The search for a new executive director continues in earnest. Our brilliant search team has been working hard to get things off the ground. This is a labor of love, and I continue to be grateful to committee members who are devoting much time to this effort.
Recently, I attended the King County Bar Foundation’s Bar Scholarship reception. I was inspired by KCBF president Scott Collins’s remarks. He expressed hope in this new generation of lawyers while presenting the law schools with sizable checks. Encouraging and empowering students of color, in particular, will no doubt build their confidence as they enter the profession, knowing they have support and mentorship at both KCBA and KCBF. A huge thanks to KCBF and to the deans of both law schools for their efforts in this program.
This is a good time to remind you that the KCBA awards nomination period will start next month. We would love to recognize our members who are going above and beyond to better our community. You can read more about the categories and past recipients here.1
In other news, The Respect for Marriage Act,2 passed by Congress, was signed into law on December 13, 2022. It is indeed a powerful piece of legislation, in which we finally have legal protection for same-sex and interracial marriages. As someone who is in an interracial marriage, this law is personal, too.
The Respect for Marriage Act overturned the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibited the federal government from recognizing marriages that were not between a man and a woman.
While the new law also requires states to recognize any valid marriage performed in other states, regardless of sex, does it provide a clear right to refuse services based on religious grounds? The law states at Section 6(b):
“Goods Or Services. — Consistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution, nonprofit religious organizations, including churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, nondenominational ministries, interdenominational and ecumenical organizations, mission organizations, faith-based social agencies, religious educational institutions, and nonprofit entities whose principal purpose is the study, practice, or advancement of religion, and any employee of such an organization, shall not be required to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage. Any refusal under this subsection to provide such services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges shall not create any civil claim or cause of action.”
There are numerous case studies across the U.S. asserting the right of refusal on religious grounds, so it will be interesting to see how this law will impact people in the future. But for now, we should celebrate this unprecedented win in which a divided Congress actually passed a law that will benefit generations to come.
From an immigration law perspective, this is also crucial. U.S. immigration laws allow spouses of U.S. citizens to obtain legal permanent residence in the U.S. I can recall the day in 2013 when the U.S. Supreme Court decided U.S. v Windsor,3 finally recognizing same-sex marriages from outside of the U.S. On the morning of June 26th that year, I turned my phone on after my flight landed in San Francisco so I could attend the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) annual conference. Notifications of the good news were blowing up my phone; there was so much excitement — everywhere. At the conference, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, then Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) delivered a moving speech.4 He said that all the same-sex marriage immigration cases that were denied immigration benefits had been essentially set aside for this moment. The entire room erupted in cheers. While we, about 4000 immigration lawyers, were at that conference, one lawyer received news that his same-sex clients’ green card application had been approved.5 We all rejoiced. That conference will forever be etched in my mind,6 and I was grateful I made the last-minute decision to attend to witness and recall the momentous experience.
Since then, same-sex families have benefited from the law, including many of my own clients. I therefore shared the mounting concerns about the right to same-sex and interracial marriages based on remarks by Justice Clarence Thomas in Women’s Health Organization which overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.7
While I applaud the Respect for Marriage Act and take this moment to celebrate, we all must be vigilant about the legal protections that remain at stake. As such, 2023 will be an interesting year for sure.
A reminder that our time-honored Martin Luther King Jr. annual luncheon will be back in person! After a few years of celebrating virtually, we are excited to be able to see many of you again. The luncheon will be held on January 13, 2023 at the Seattle Convention Center from 12 pm to 1 pm. Here is a link to register.8 This year’s keynote speaker will be Bakari Sellers, NY Times best-selling author, Civil Rights Activist, Attorney, Entrepreneur, and Legislator. You can read more about his impressive background in the link above.
A huge thank you to Judge Richard A. Jones for continuing leadership of the committee, and to all the committee members, including Elizabeth Castilleja, Matthew Clark, Juanita Clemente, Kristin DiBiase, Justo Gonzalez, Robert Hendrix, Daniel Hsieh, Kerry Keefe, Judge David Keenan, Gregory Miller, Karen Murray, Judge Kevin Peck, and Robert Petersen. I look forward to seeing you there.
Wishing you all a great start to the new year! May it be a healthy, joyous and successful one!
1 https://www.kcba.org/Calendar/Special-Events/Annual-Awards-
Celebration-and-Meeting/Prior-Year-Award-Winners.
2 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8404/text.
3 https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/pdf/12-307.pdf.
4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_gGc_oCR4I.
5 https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/us/gay-married-man-in-florida-is-approved-for-green-card.html.
6 https://watsonimmigrationlaw.com/2013/07/01/most-memorable-
aila-conference/.
7 https://www.supremecourt.gov/pdfs/transcripts/1972/70-18_10-
11-1972.pdf.
8 https://www.kcba.org/Calendar/Special-Events/Rev-Dr-Martin-
Luther-King-Jr-Luncheon.
