LWVK Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker: Justice Montoya-Lewis

We are pleased that Justice Montoya-Lewis of the WA State Supreme Court has agreed to be this year’s keynote speaker at our annual meeting! The Justice Montoya-Lewis will speak about her journey to the Washington State Supreme Court and what state courts can learn from tribal courts.

Please plan to attend and bring your questions for the Justice.  Members of the public are encouraged to attend as well!

This year’s annual meeting will take place on Zoom in two parts.  The business portion for members will be held first at 10:30.   The second part will be a webinar at 12:30 with Justice Montoya-Lewis as the keynote speaker; details below.

Zoom Webinar Details

About Justice Montoya-Lewis

Justice Montoya-Lewis was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court effective January 6, 2020, and was subsequently elected to retain her seat in November of 2020. Justice Montoya-Lewis is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Isleta and a descendant of the Pueblo of Laguna, two federally recognized tribes in New Mexico.  She is the first enrolled member of any tribe to sit on a state supreme court in the U.S. and the second Native American to sit on a state supreme court.  She is also of Jewish descent.  Prior to becoming an Associate Justice, she served as a Superior Court judge for Whatcom County for five years, where she heard criminal and civil trials and presided over the Whatcom County Therapeutic Drug Court.  In the 15 years prior to her work on the Superior Court, she served as a tribal court judge for multiple tribes in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest.  She served as Chief Judge for the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, the Nooksack Indian Tribe, and the Lummi Nation.  In addition to her work as a tribal court judge, she was a tenured Associate Professor at Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College where she taught law-related courses and courses on cultural identity development.  She has continued to use her teaching skills as a jurist, teaching a wide variety of audiences including judges, social workers, lawyers, and advocates on implicit bias, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and best practices in child welfare and domestic violence cases.  Justice Montoya-Lewis graduated with her BA degree from the University of New Mexico in 1992 and completed her law degree and Master of Social Work degree at the University of Washington in 1995 and 1996 respectively.