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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1999)
rrrrrineuts 6 jH S t M at » aprii 16. 1999 PHO TO S BY L IN D A J udicial S napshot Continued from the cover e fair, be just, be mer • ciful.” ' These are the -■ three vows Wilson took along with her oath of office to the Multnomah County District Court in 1991, as one of former Gov. Barbara Roberts’ judicial appoint ments. In 1994, Wilson, who received her bachelor’s degree from Willamette Uni versity in Salem and her law degree from the Willamette University School of Law, became a Multnomah Coun ty Circuit Court judge. She hopes someday to be a feder al judge. “Law is a calling,” she tells Just Out. “Serving society and the rule of the law" matters to Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Janice Wilson the native Oregonian, and one doesn’t doubt it after fercnce [during a session on] diversity issues in And you’d better leave your guns, knives, chatting with her and her associates in the legal the courts, Judge Wilson noted to 200 judges in field, and watching her work it from the bench. cannons and slingshots at home— or else. the room that she was the first openly lesbian Still, for Wilson there is no clash between Each weekday, perhaps after a morning the expression of compassion and upholding the workout at a nearby athletic club, Wilson makes judge in Oregon, how the Code of Judicial Con law. her way to this destination. Her office and duct prevented her from taking any leadership For example, in late January she eased the chambers nuzzle side by side. role on opposing Measure 9 in 1992, ‘the biggest probation terms of a woman who was convicted From the morning into the afternoon, she’ll political issue o f [her] life,’ and how the gay and of drug dealing in February 1998 for running a consider probation violation, rape, sexual lesbian community thought she had turned her facility that provided medicinal marijuana to assault, drug and other cases. The seedier mani back on them once she assumed the bench. people with cancer, AIDS and other illnesses. festations of life. Most judges in the room had not known that. Wilson told the woman: “You break [the] law The worst, Wilson says, are the child abuse “When later I overheard several comments at your own risk until the law does change." But cases. expressing surprise about Judge Wilson's sexual she nonetheless relaxed the probation restric “The things people do to their children....” orientation and implying it was incongruous tions enough for the perpetrator to gush: “Oh, with their established admiration for her legal this is wonderful, wonderful news.” n March, Wilson received the Judge Mer and judicial skills, I knew I had witnessed a pow In other words, Wilson considers context, cedes Deiz award from Oregon Women erful and transformative event. Judge Wilson and acts accordingly. Lawyers. The annual award was established to opened some minds that day.” recognize lawyers who have made outstanding The writer added: "I expect Judge Wilson J ilson was bom in 1954 in Medford, and contributions to the promotion of women and opens some minds most days. Each day as she moved to the Portland area a few years minorities in the legal profession. takes the bench, she restores her courage and later. It no doubt tasted delicious to Wilson, who renews three vows she took along with her oath “My parents weren’t involved in politics, in becoming a judge had to forgo much in the of office, vows memorialized in a plaque on her they were involved with the church," she says, way of civil rights activism. bench that says: ‘Be fair, be just, be merciful. adding a sense of civic mindfulness was instilled When she joined the district court, for She is, and I am mindful of her lessons each day early on. example, it was at the height of the volatile in my work.” Her dad snagged the “8 Gallon Pin” when he campaign over Measure 9, which sought to con Now, if only we could nail down the Judge hit the eight-gallon mark in personal blood stitutionally classify homosexuality as abnormal, Janice show. donations, and he nurtured a young Janice’s wrong, unnatural and intellectual curiosity. perverse. Queers and “If I had a question, he wouldn’t just say, X* their allies were taking ‘Let’s go look it up.’ It would be, T h is is going to to the streets, speaking be a lot of fun.’ He really had an enormous out daily at forums, and enthusiasm and joy about learning,” she recalls. mixing it up in And it spread to his offspring. While some unprecedented num attorneys gripe over tedious rules and regs, Wil bers in Oregon. It had son embraces the profession’s intricacies. And to be tough for Wilson. she finds the tales of the broken and anxious Her sacrifice, however, people who came to her when she was a private has not gone unno practice lawyer— and now land before her as a ticed. judge— to be a compelling, not torturous, exer In making the case cise. as to why Wilson was Throughout, she keeps it objective and deserving of the Mer remains hopeful about humankind: “I will never cedes Deiz award, a say a particular person is incapable of change.” supporter wrote: “Judge Wilson has shown aybe you think a judge’s life is glamorous. great personal courage Step into the Multnomah County Court in this work. For exam house and you might reconsider. The air is thick ple, in response to a and funky; the lighting a throwback to your ele question at the 1993 mentary school days. Oregon Judicial Con- Judge Wilson exiting her chambers B ' What Makes a Gay Soul? An Education Support Group for Gay Men on a Spiritual Path Seven Wednesdays: May 19th- Ju n e 30th, from 7-9 p.m. For information call: Dale Rhodes, M.S. Spiritual Direction at the Interfaith Spiritual Center 3910 S.E . 11th Avenue, Portland. OR (503) 289-4103 Sliding scale fe e s are available. Pre-registration required. I NE 4-2nd Avenue Portland, OR 97^5 2005 2 Blocks N orth o f Sandy (5 0 3 ) 2 4 9 -1 8 8 8 (8 0 0 ) 843-6793 Q iuilit\ no-nnnsense hiji & home theater e</i<i/mient ST E R E O T Y PE S AUIMO 26 I t n. i’. bro.iJw.iy h w 2 SO- 09 10 p i's ,t i id i o . o > iti w M