Plymouth Forum: The Honorable J. Robin Hunt, Washington State Court of Appeals
In her presentation, Judge Hunt will address:
1) the separation of power and how it may constrain one branch’s ability to resolve a problem;
2) how real life situations evolve so rapidly that the legislature cannot foresee the laws needed in time to regulate, thus, situations involving such things as bioethics end up in the courts’ hands for resolution; and
3) whether and how cultural differences are taken into account in the courtroom.
Judge J. Robin Hunt was elected to Division Two of the Court of Appeals in November 1996 and took office in January 1997. She was reelected in 2002 and 2008. Based in Tacoma, Division Two is an error-correcting court hearing appeals from western Washington’s county superior courts (except for King County north to the Canadian border, which counties are in Division One). Judge Hunt has authored more than 1000 majority opinions and dissents. In the past, she frequently arranged to hold court in local schools of Division Two's counties to promote greater public understanding of the appellate process. For many years, she has mentored young lawyers, new judges, and extern law students who receive credit for assisting with the court's growing workload. She has taught numerous Continuing Legal Education courses on Ethics and Appellate Practice. She currently serves on the national Executive Committee of the Council of Chief Judges of intermediate state appellate courts and chairs the newsletter committee.
Judge Hunt began the private practice of law with a litigation firm in Fairbanks, Alaska (1974-1975). She then worked as a contract attorney for a large private firm in Seattle. In 1975, newly elected King County Prosecutor Chris Bayley hired her as a deputy prosecutor in the criminal division, where she continued to serve until 1983 under the late Norm Maleng. As part of her training, she rode with law enforcement on weekend night patrols. She prosecuted all types of crimes in the trial courts, from DUI to capital murder. As senior deputy, she created a specialized appellate unit, arguing numerous cases in state and federal appellate courts. Thereafter, Judge Hunt served as Bainbridge Island Municipal Court Judge Pro Tem (1982-1993) and Hearing Examiner (1985-1996), adjudicating local land use issues and administrative appeals.
Raised in the northeast by a church organist and Corning Glass engineer, Judge Hunt graduated with a major in music from Smith College before attending Wayne State University School of Law in Detroit. After graduating with honors in 1973, she served as a law clerk for the Hon. Cornelia Kennedy, then of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (now on senior status with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals). Judge Hunt currently lives on Bainbridge Island with her husband, retired Navy Chief Art Schmidt; they enjoy kayaking, hiking, adventure travel, and movies. They have two grown sons.
Before being elected to the court, Judge Hunt served on the school board and as co-chair of a task force to oust a white supremacist group targeting the island as a “laboratory” for eradicating persons of color in the 1980s. For many years she has continued to sing with Kitsap County’s MLK Community Choir. When she retires, she hopes to return to music and to learn to play the harp.
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