Washington Coalition of Minority Legal Professionals

Educating the Public to Improve the Justice System for Minority Communities

Who We Are

The Washington Coalition of Minority Legal Professionals is a joint committee of participating minority bar associations formed to carry out the nonpartisan evaluation and rating of candidates for elected law-enforcement positions in Washington State. The participating associations draw from communities that are highly and disproportionately impacted by prosecutor elections and other law-enforcement elections.

A primary goal of the Coalition is to ensure that persons seeking election to such positions recognize the concerns of our marginalized communities and are committed to fairness, equal justice, improving the justice system, and consideration of alternatives to the criminal system for achieving justice for victims, offenders, and the community.

Participating Associations

Washington Women Lawyers
QLaw: The LGBT Bar Association of Washington
Loren Miller Bar Association
Asian Bar Association of Washington
Korean American Bar Association of Washington
Latina/o Bar Association of Washington
South Asian Bar Association of Washington
Vietnamese-American Bar Association of Washington
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2021 Candidate Ratings

The Coalition issues ratings of candidates for law-enforcement offices. The ratings reflect our nonpartisan assessment whether a candidate will be effective in office, will serve the interests of the community and society, and is committed to the fair administration of justice and improvement of the criminal justice system from the perspective of the participating minority bar associations.

The Coalition conducted a rating process for candidates for Seattle City Attorney in the 2021 general election. Both candidates were invited to participate in the rating process. Click here for the 2021 Seattle City Attorney candidate ratings, as well as the candidates’ questionnaire responses.

The rating process is described in our governing document, which sets forth the information to be considered (sections 6.02–6.05), the criteria for rating (section 6.06), and the rating scale (section 6.07).


2020 Candidate Ratings

The Coalition conducted a rating process for candidates for Attorney General in the 2020 general election. Both candidates were invited to participate in the rating process. Click here for the 2020 Attorney General candidate ratings.


2018 Candidate Ratings

The Coalition conducted a rating process for candidates for Prosecuting Attorney in selected races in the 2018 election cycle. All candidates in those selected races were invited to participate in the rating process. Click here for the 2018 ratings.

In addition, on September 19, 2018, the Coalition, in partnership with dozens of other organizations, requested responses to questionnaires from all candidates for prosecuting attorney throughout the state. The goal was public education about the function of prosecuting attorneys and the opportunities they have to shape our criminal justice system. We are publishing questionnaire responses below.

  • Clallam County – Selinda Barkhuis
  • Jefferson County – James Kennedy
  • King County – Dan Satterberg
  • Okanogan County – Arian Noma
  • Okanogan County – Branden Platter
  • Pacific County – Pam Noguiera Maneman
  • Pierce County – Mark Lindquist
  • Snohomish County – Adam Cornell
  • Spokane County – Larry Haskell
  • Thurston County – Victor Minjares
  • Whatcom County – Eric Richey
  • Whatcom County – James Erb

Contact

Committee Chair: Dan Shih – chair@wcmlp.org | 206-373-7390

Committee Vice Chair: Mary Reiten – vice-chair@wcmlp.org