**th Legislative District Democrats

Please attach a resume which includes political activities.

Candidate Endorsement Request (Superior Court)

Full Name: (as shown on ballot) BEV GRANT

Office Sought: JUDGE, PIERCE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT DEPT. 7

TODAY S DATE: 05/31/12

Years in the district that you want to represent: I have been a

resident of Pierce County since 1964 of which I had dual residence in

California for 10 years.

Campaign Information

Name of Campaign: Citizens to Re-Elect Judge Bev Grant

Campaign Manager: Judge Bev Grant

Campaign Address: P.O. Box 65778, University Place, WA 98464

Campaign Phone: 253-***-****

Co-Treasurers: Judy Matson 253-***-****; Jeff Robinson;253-***-****

Fax: 253-253-***-****

Email: abpmov@r.postjobfree.com

Website: http://www.judge bevgrant.com

How much money do you intend to spend on this campaign? To Be

Determined. How much in personal funds do you intend to spend? To Be

Determined,however, in the last election I spent $150,000 of my

personal funds. How much have you raised so far? That information

is currently unavailable to me.

Are you using union printers and/or sign shops to do your campaign

printing? Union Printer.

Questionnaire

Please keep your answers brief.

Please list your qualifications for seeking office: I have had the

privilege and honor of serving on the Pierce County Superior Court

for nine years. I currently preside over an extremely wide ambit

of both criminal and civil litigation. I have presided over hundreds

of cases ranging from murder, incest, rape, burglary, indecent

liberties, divorce, employment law, real estate contract, land

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boundary disputes, juvenile dependency and termination cases. My

decisions have rarely been reversed by the appellant courts.

I believe that all litigants whether in civil or criminal cases are

entitled to equal access to justice.

During and shortly after law school, I clerked for the Washington

State Attorney General s Offices, DSHS & Higher Education and for the

General Counsel for Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company (which

later merged with AT&T). I also worked as a King County Juvenile

Court Public Defender for a short time before becoming a law clerk to

a federal judge. In that capacity, I occasionally wrote bench memos

for the Ninth Circuit of Appeals. I also represented indigents as

appointed counsel in federal criminal cases during the late 70 s.

From 1978 to April, 2003, when I ascended to the Pierce County

Superior Court bench, I was in private practice in federal and state

courts in Washington and California.

I am an experienced trial litigator. I litigated cases involving

complex multi-party litigation, federal & Native American law, labor

and employment law and preventive litigation. I also advocated

preventive litigation among my business clients who not only sought

ways to reduce litigation costs but wanted solutions that

implemented fair, non-discriminatory work practices. I often received

referrals from the late Johnny Cochran

Before being appointed to the Pierce County Superior Court bench,

while solo practicing in downtown Los Angeles, California, I

successfully litigated against the top 100 labor law firms in the

United States some of who represented several defendants in my case

including actors Fred Savage (Wonder Years) and Will Smith (Fresh

Prince of BelAir), National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the CEO of

Xerox. In Washington State I have successfully tried and settled

cases in high six and low seven figures representing employees.

What special skills do you bring to the bench? I have been fortunate

to travel to various states and countries. I bring unique

experiences to the bench. I have observed the impact that law has on

the many different cultures. I strongly believe that in the United

States, we are extremely are extremely fortunate to have a legal

system that adheres to fairness and equality.

I grew up in the Hilltop and am keenly aware of community Pierce

County issues. While growing up in Tacoma, Washington my father,

George Johnson, was the Executive of the Metropolitan Development

Council and the Anti-Poverty Program. I have fond memories of

conversations with my father about the criminal system and probation.

He was appointed by Governor Evans, Spellman, Ray & Gardener to the

Washington State Parole Board, later referred to as the Indeterminate

Sentencing Board.

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My participation in the community is apparent as I have either

volunteered or been a Board Member of many organizations (e.g. the

Lenny Wilkens Foundation, African American Museum, Hilltop Artists in

Residence, a Curator of the Tacoma Arts Museum, American Red Cross;

founding member of the Pierce County Washington State Women Lawyers

Association, Vice President of the Loren Miller Bar Association, the

former Washington State Trial Lawyers. Additionally, I served as a

lecturer for the Labor Law Sections of both the California and

Washington State Bar Associations and many other organizations too

long to list.

I have been involved in neighborhood Safe Streets gatherings,

mentoring, LEAP Program with Pierce County Sheriff, Paul Pastor and

Deputy Ken Board, CASA training programs, moot court competitions,

Youth & Law Forums; Evening Reporting Centers, Charles Wright Academy

and Bellarmine Preparatory School parent associations.

As a judge I have served as a Superior Court representative on

various Diversity and Equal Fair Access Committees along with the

Juvenile Rehabilitation Act (JRA).

Additionally, I am one of 400 judges in the United States that has

been trained as an Advance Science Technology Research (ASTAR)

Fellow who has learned about bionics, FMRI s(functional Magnetic

Resonance Imaging), brain scans to determine criminal behavior and

virtual reality issues as they relate to the law.

Please list your reasons for seeking office: Before ascending to the

bench, I had extensive litigation experience and have had the

opportunity to observe and try multi-party and complex litigation

against the premier attorneys in the nation. I want to continue as a

Pierce County Superior Court judge. As a judge, I bring a wealth

of knowledge about trial tactics and procedures. I have rarely been

reversed by the Washington Appellate and Supreme Courts, thus

validating the decisions that I have made. I have a quest for

learning the current law and the law of the future. I am a candidate

for a Master s in Judicial Studies. I am cognizant of ways to improve

the system and make it more efficient. I am committed to working

hard and diligently for the people of Pierce County.

Have you been involved in partisan politics in Washington State

before? Please give details: Yes, prior to becoming a judge, I was

politically active by being on the Steering Committees of Senator

Henry Scoop Jackson, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore

and Senator John Kerry. I also served as an office manager in South

Central Los Angeles, CA. for Senator Diane Feinstein s campaign when

she ran for Governor. I have also served on the Selection Committee

for federal judgeships with Jenny Durkan at the request of Senators

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Patty Murray and Marie Cantwell. I made it to the short list, top

ten, for consideration for a federal U.S. District for the Western

District of Washington.

Have you run for an office before? Pierce County Superior Court.

Please give details: Yes, in 2008 I ran a contested race.

Have you held office, either elected or appointed? Please give

details: Yes, See above. However, I am unsure of the call of this

question. If the question is just directed to political offices, the

following reply is warranted. I was appointed to the Pierce County

Superior Court in April, 2003; reelected in 2004 and 2008. I have

also served on various boards and was the Vice-President of the Four

Seasons Ski Club in Seattle, one of at that time approximately 30

African American ski clubs that were under the umbrella of the

National Brotherhood of Skiers, many years ago. I have served as an

officer of numerous Bar.

What do you believe will be the three most important issues in your

campaign? (1) Independence of the judiciary; (2) equal access to the

legal process (regardless of their background, education, sexual

orientation, social-economic or celebrity status, gender,race, age,

disability) diversity and (3) The need to continue to finance such

viable programs such as Drug Court, Veternan s Court and other

specialty courts that make a difference in the lives of our citizens.

What is the role of the judge? To be a neutral decision maker.

Listen to all of the evidence to make fair and equitable decisions

that are upheld by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

Have you previously served on the bench? Prior to becoming a judge, I

was on the pro-tem list but when called the trials always conflicted

with my trial schedule or resolved themselves.

Please summarize your legal practice (prior to taking the bench if

applicable).

See discussion above.

What would you do to make Superior Court more efficient? I believe

that Pierce County Superior Court recognizes the needs for specialty

courts like the Juvenile, Drug, Veterans and Family Court. In other

jurisdictions such as California, specialty courts have been

effective. Were there funds available, efficiency could be effective

by: having weekend night courts as many litigants and parents cannot

attend court during the week as they are working and providing a

childcare center so that parents could know that their children are

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being well cared for while they are attending their legal needs.

Often parents without daycare services must bring their children with

them. The result is understandable why the children get reckless and

will want to play or leave which on most occasions result in unruly

behavior that interrupt the court process.

Having been an experienced litigator and now a judge, I know that

there are often many reasons why the docket does not start on time in

spite of the best intentions to do so. Perceptions may differ from

the reality that exists. The reasons include: unexpected family

emergencies, medical appointments, I am sensitive to the fact that

even with the best of preparation, there are things that happen out

of the control of the counsel, the litigants and judges.

All attorneys are keenly aware when they are due in court. However,

there are occasions when issues arise that they did not nor could not

contemplate which either have to be briefed or postpone the trial.

1)Very often in criminal cases, the lawyers are spread thin and have

numerous motions to be heard in multiple courtrooms. This happens

primarily due to multiple defendants being tried at the same time by

the same experienced counsel.

2)because of security or other reasons there may be a delay in

bringing the Defendant from the jail (e.g. the defendant has no

street clothes to wear to court; the defendant refuses to come to

court.

3) Essential witnesses have scheduled conflicts and counsel have run

out of substitutes to fill in the gaps.

4) Defendants change their minds and no longer want to change their

pleas

5) Client or witness control.

6) Unexpected sickness or family issues.

These and other reasons listed above result in inefficiency which

bogs down the system.

Now,having said that: I have found that pretrial conferences have

been extremely effective in dealing with some of these issues. Also,

the scheduler in sending the cases down must be more aware of the

various restrictions placed on the other judges.

The Pierce County Superior Court in my opinion has been more

receptive to listen to the concerns of the civil bar (and in

particular, the family law bar) regarding giving their clients need

to have equal access to the courts. To that extent, there now are

five judges assigned on a one year rotation for civil cases only.

Our bench recognizes that although the bulk of the cases are criminal

in nature that it is unacceptable to have a litigant wait for years

to have their cases heard. In the past, the civil cases trials were

frequently pre-empted by criminal cases due to the Speedy Trial Act.

This imposed a tremendous financial and time hardship on the

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litigants who were prepared to have their cases tried but were

delayed as there were either no courtrooms or difficulty with getting

their witnesses.

Why should the 25th Legislative District Democrats support you over

any other candidates running for this position?

I am exceptionally well qualified and extremely competent. My

experience is not only extensive but also exclusive to nuances in the

law. I continue to learn each day about the law from my experiences

in the courtroom and through more education. I have received numerous

endorsements from numerous Justices of the Washington State Supreme

Court; Judges from the Appellate Court and Superior Court Judges and

a many community and leadership roles. I have repeatedly been

encouraged from many attorneys and others to give the voters an

opportunity to elect a candidate. I did not take this job to become

popular, nor to have the independency of the judiciary infringed. I

make hard decisions every day. I took this job to uphold the

Constitution and the law.

Are there any additional comments you would like to share with the

25th Legislative District Democrats?

I am running for Dept.7 because I truly believe that I am worthy of

your consideration and your endorsement. I make hard decisions every

day in which there is always someone who feels that they lost.

My signature below signifies that I am seeking the endorsement of the

25th District Democrats. I understand that this endorsement may or

may not come with monetary support. I also understand that the 25th

District Democrats may withdraw its endorsement.

Candidate Signature: Beverly G. Grant

Dated:_5/31/2012

Please return your completed questionnaire to abpmov@r.postjobfree.com

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