State justices tackle tough topics for SHS students
Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 4, 2026
Two of the nine Washington State Justices – Sheryl Gordon McCloud and Steven C. González, with González’s senior law clerk Laura Anglin – visited with Sequim High School juniors and seniors last week inside the Sequim High School auditorium.
The visit on May 27 was connected with the full court’s two-day visit to Peninsula College in Port Angeles and is a part of the Traveling Court Outreach Program.
History and government teacher Saralyn Pozernick organized the Sequim visit and said this is the first time the school has held such an event, and if it could happen again, “that would be great.”
The lower auditorium was nearly full of students, all of whom participate in a social studies course, according to principal Erin Fox.
After an introduction by Pozernick, each of the three public servants detailed a bit of their history from the stage.
González said that this is his 15th year on the court, initially being appointed by then-governor Christine Gregoire, with successful elections thereafter, which he said are non-partisan. He told the students that he was the first person in his family to earn a degree past high school.
McCloud said that she and González were the “new kids” at the court in 2012 and that she’s been elected three times. Previous to that she spent 25 years in private practice as a defense attorney on the appellate court.
Anglin interjected that McCloud is also “an expert swordsman,” with a strong response from the audience.
Many of the students came prepared with questions while others originated them on the spot.
The first student asked what potential effect the next election, with five of the nine seats opening up, would have on young people.
González said the “millionaire’s tax,” Senate Bill 6346, would likely be up for debate by the incoming court.
Three justices are usually up for election each cycle, he said, but this time two additional justices will retire before their terms are over.
“It’s usually a quieter race, but this year may be different,” he said.
Other questions included those pertaining to women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, the gas tax, the death penalty, justices’ views on the income tax referendum, whether the state court has the ability to contest federal courts, how the court chooses which cases to take, judicial activism, how justices’ personal ethics affect their decisions in court and immigration rights.
The two justices and the clerk each answered each question, sometimes quite thoroughly, throughout the high school’s second period.
A running theme in their answers was delineating the court’s role as a co-equal branch of the government with specific and limited responsibilities, including reviewing the constitutionality of laws brought before them in court cases; they also frequently compared the state constitution to the federal constitution.
About 40 people stayed after the presentation to ask more questions with the justices and clerk sitting on the edge of the stage.
McCloud said students brought wonderful and thoughtful questions to the meeting.
“They asked about everything we would have covered if we’d given a speech,” she said.
Anglin said the students “did a good job drilling down to the core of the deep irreducible issues of our society.”
SHS junior Aurora Williams said she liked the presentation because students asked important, relevant questions.
“It’s really good for our kids to have interactions with people they look up to,” Erin Fox said.
Also in attendance were other SHS teachers, Superintendent Regan Nickels, a few school board members and SHS Vice-Principal Robby Fox, as well as security professionals.
