by Paul W. Taylor, Washington State Standard
November 9, 2025
This article was first published by TVW.
After a quarter century on the bench, Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu is ready to slow down — to “sip coffee rather than gulp it,” as she puts it. The longtime jurist will retire at the end of this year, closing a trailblazing career.
From the King County Superior Court to the state’s highest bench, Yu said she found that justice often emerges from respectful clashes of perspective. “This is an adversarial process — you have to fight for how you think the law ought to be,” she told host Austin Jenkins in an “Inside Olympia“ interview on TVW. “When we differ, we are at our best.”
After 14 years on the King County Superior Court, Yu was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court by Gov. Jay Inslee in May 2014, becoming its first Asian American, Latina and openly gay justice. She went on to win elections in November 2014, 2016 and 2022, serving 12 years on the high court and 25 years on the bench overall.
Born on Chicago’s South Side to a Chinese father and a Mexican mother, Yu was the first in her family to attend college. Her path to law began at the Archdiocese of Chicago, where she joined the new Office of Peace and Justice as a secretary and later became its director. The work, focused on systemic social justice, shaped her understanding of inequality and change. “The law can bring about social change,” she said. “It creates, frankly, a cause of action if you’re discriminated against — a way to make justice real.”
Her legal outlook was further shaped by then–King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, who hired her as his deputy chief of staff and later encouraged her sense of purpose in public service. Yu described Maleng as “the most ethical prosecutor one could ever know,” a mentor who taught her that “justice isn’t about convictions — it’s about doing what’s right.”
Yu carried that conviction from the courtroom to the Supreme Court. She pushes back against claims that the justices share a single ideological view.
“I think we are very different in our views on a host of issues and how we approach a variety of topics, but we’re not ideologues, and that might be what some people are missing, and that, frankly, is a good thing.” she said. “Regardless of where we might be politically, personally, I can tell you that we are all over the place in that room. Those who think otherwise aren’t reading the opinions.”
Several cases stayed with her. She pointed to the case of Tarra Simmons — in which the court ruled that a past felony shouldn’t automatically bar someone from becoming a lawyer — as her favorite decision. “We said rehabilitation is real and possible,” Yu said. “There is hope for everybody who’s made a mistake.” Simmons is now a state legislator.
She also cited State v. Sum, which held that race must be considered when evaluating police stops, as an example of the court adapting to contemporary realities.
Earlier in her career, Yu became known for performing more than 1,000 same-sex adoptions and officiating one of Washington’s first same-sex marriages at the stroke of midnight when it became legal in 2012. Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel included Yu in a 2021 segment about what he called “Perfectly Named People,” asking her whether when she officiates weddings, does she say, “I Mary Yu, marry you.”
As she looks to retirement, Yu said she plans to volunteer, mentor young lawyers and continue “believing in the goodness of others.”
“Maybe my legacy,” she said, “is simply that I believed in the next generation.”
This article was first published by TVW, a media nonprofit that provides comprehensive coverage of state government. TVW broadcasts unedited gavel-to-gavel coverage on statewide cable and at tvw.org, and produces original current affairs and education shows, including Inside Olympia and The Impact. TVW’s mission is to give Washingtonians access to their state government, increase civic access and engagement, and foster an informed citizenry.
Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: [email protected].