OREGON
A6 — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2022
Governor makes lasting impact in Oregon with 100 judges appointed
Gov. Kate Brown
has aimed for
diversity as she
fills vacancies in
state courts
By LES ZAITZ
Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM — Kate Brown
was on the job as Oregon’s
governor for just a week in
2015 when she posted an
opening for a state judge.
Three months later, she
named a prosecutor to be a
Lane County Circuit Court
judge.
Now, seven years later,
Brown has made her 100th
appointment to Oregon
courts.
Her infl uence on the
judicial system will last far
beyond her time in offi ce,
which ends next January.
She has named most of
the justices on the Oregon
Supreme Court.
Nine of the 13 judges
on the Oregon Court of
Appeals are her appointees.
Her appointments leave
the state’s court system
more diverse.
The judges she has
appointed at the circuit
court level deal with every-
thing from divorces to busi-
ness disputes to murder
prosecutions. They work
out of the courtroom as
mediators and negotia-
tors. They preside in court-
houses in every county seat
in Oregon.
“This is one of the most
important constitutional
responsibilities of the gov-
ernor,” Brown said in an
interview with the Capital
Chronicle.
She has established
an elaborate process for
picking judges.
A 10-page applica-
tion form is the starting
point. Besides the typ-
ical work and school his-
tory, Brown asks for the
names of opposing law-
yers that potential appoin-
Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter, File
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has appointed the majority of those on the
Oregon Supreme Court and Oregon Court of Appeals.
tees have faced in the court-
room. She also wants the
names of judges who have
seen the candidates in the
courtroom.
Brown’s staff consults
judges serving in the county
where there is an opening,
getting a sense of what
experience is needed. The
vetting process also includes
talks with local offi cials and
sometimes a review by the
local bar association.
Extensive vetting
“It did add more pro-
cess, but extensive vetting
and including more voices
in the selection process is
healthy,” according to an
emailed statement from
Kamron Graham, a Port-
land attorney and president
of the Oregon State Bar.
A panel of the gover-
nor’s lawyers and attorneys
from the community con-
duct interviews, narrowing
the fi eld to two or three
fi nalists. The Oregon State
Police also conducts deep
background investigations
of the fi nalists.
When that work is done,
Brown gets a notebook,
sometimes 100 pages or
more, with detailed infor-
mation about each fi nalist.
She then does her own
interviews, typically lasting
15 minutes.
Brown, herself an
attorney, drills deep into
the notebook to question
candidates.
The process to the fi nal
announcement takes about
four months.
“I want to make sure
there is a diversity of both
professional backgrounds
and experience,” Brown
said.
She said she isn’t looking
for a particular judicial phi-
losophy, but empathy for
Oregonians is key.
“What I hear from Ore-
gonians about the judicial
system is that they want to
be heard, they want a judge
who will listen to them,”
Brown said.
Brown said life experi-
ences are as important to
her as legal knowledge.
“Their decisions have
to refl ect the communities
they represent,” Brown said.
“They have to be respectful
of the people who live in
those communities.”
She is alert to the impact
on criminal justice.
“I want to make sure that
I am appointing judges who
understand the disparate
impact that our criminal
justice system has had on
people of color and people
of low incomes,” the gov-
ernor said.
APPOINTMENTS BY
THE NUMBERS
Women — 52
Blacks — 10
LGBTQ — 8
Asian/South Asian — 7
Latina/Latino/Latinx — 7
Native American — 1
Courts:
Circuit Court — 83
Court of Appeals — 10
Supreme Court — 6
Tax Court — 1
Balance, not quotas
“We are getting closer
to a judiciary that better
refl ects the community,”
said Graham. “This too is
healthy and a goal that the
Oregon State Bar supports.”
The governor’s fi rst
appointment was a woman.
She named Karrie McIn-
tyre, a former county pros-
ecutor and civil attorney
in Eugene, to be a Lane
County Circuit Court judge.
“The citizens of Lane
County will benefi t from
her passionate commit-
ment to ensuring equal jus-
tice to all litigants,” Brown
said in her May 15, 2015,
announcement.
Almost exactly seven
years later, Brown made
appointment No. 100,
naming Jacqueline Alarcón
as a Multnomah County
Circuit Court judge.
Alarcón was born in
Los Angeles but grew up
through high school in El
Salvador. She has practiced
family law since getting her
law degree from Willamette
University. She is currently
president of the Multnomah
Bar Association and Oregon
Women Lawyers and is on
the board of Basic Rights
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