Mary Yu would be the first to acknowledge that her long, impactful career as a lawyer, trial court judge and Washington Supreme Court justice was far from what she’d envisioned growing up the daughter of immigrants just outside of Chicago. In fact, the main aspirations instilled in her and her brother were to learn to read and stay out of trouble.
She succeeded in both and even as a college student at Dominican University she was on track to become a teacher. But it was her experience working at the Archdiocese of Chicago that pointed her to the field of law. And now, nearly 50 years later, she has decided to leave that career.
Yu, 68, will retire at the end of the year after 11 years as a justice. Though her six-year term does not expire until the end of 2028, her decision was influenced by the death of Washington Justice Susan Owens in March, three months after she retired.
“I want to try different things while I’m still healthy and can do it,” Yu said.
Among her noted written opinions was for the unanimous ruling in a 2023 voting rights case where Latino voters in Franklin County complained of voter suppression. Yu wrote: “The WVRA (Washington Voting Rights Act) protects all Washington voters from discrimination on the basis of race, color and language minority group.”
A 2024 decision said criminal defendants cannot be required to appear for nonjury proceedings from an “in-court holding cell” without a defined security risk. Yu wrote: Requiring a defendant to appear from an in-court holding cell “undermines the presumption of innocence, interferes with a defendant’s ability to communicate with counsel, and violates the dignity of the defendant and the court proceedings.”
And in 2022, the court addressed racial profiling in police stops. Yu wrote: “Today, we formally recognize what has always been true: In interactions with law enforcement, race and ethnicity matter” when determining the legality of police seizures.
Her dedication to public service stretched beyond the halls of justice.
The pivotal moment in her career, and what she said she’s most proud of, is officiating hundreds of weddings, particularly same-sex unions. She called it “a privilege.”
She has mentored dozens of law students and young attorneys; she has volunteered her time and talent with the Seattle Girls School Mock Trials; and she has taught law at Seattle University School of Law, where a scholarship is endowed in her name.
Yu said she will spend her time possibly writing children’s books, championing voters rights and tutoring. The subject matter? Reading, of course.
