Judge Hawk’s Experience
There are lawyers who represent powerful interests, and lawyers who defend the public interest. As an attorney, Jaime Hawk was in the second group — defending people arrested by ICE, making the justice system fairer for people living paycheck-to-paycheck, and leading trials and appeals in courtrooms across Washington, arguing that the Constitution protects everyone, not just the powerful. Now she’s a judge and is committed to fairness, court independence, and the rule of law.
Raised by a single mother, she started her first job at 14. Judge Hawk was the first in her family to attend college, graduating with honors from Gonzaga University in Spokane. Before law school, she served survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, helping them find safety and shelter. She earned a full merit scholarship to Gonzaga School of Law and graduated with honors.
For over 20 years, Judge Hawk has been a state and national legal leader. After law school, she was an attorney fellow to Senator Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee staff, where she worked on Supreme Court nominations, immigration legislation, and the Violence Against Women Act. She later became a state and federal public defender, leading trials and appeals for people facing the full power of the federal government.
Judge Hawk with her grandparents at law school graduation
She has lived and practiced law in Eastern, Central, and Western Washington. She built a career standing beside those who had the least power — and making sure the Constitution protected us all.
Dedicated to Justice
Judge Hawk was inspired by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was the first ACLU lawyer to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Jaime Hawk became the first attorney with the ACLU of Washington to become a judge in our state.
As a civil rights attorney, Judge Hawk helped lead statewide reforms to improve pretrial justice, reduce bias in the legal system, and expand voting rights. Her legal scholarship on voting rights was cited by the Washington Court of Appeals. She was counsel of record on eight amicus briefs before the Washington Supreme Court and helped advance reforms to improve Supreme Court rules.
Judge Hawk has also taught the next generation of lawyers. She served as an adjunct professor of law, trained attorneys across the country, and has spoken nationally on constitutional rights, criminal justice reform, and access to justice.
Judge Hawk teaching students at Gonzaga Law School
The American Bar Association selected her to observe military commission proceedings at Guantánamo Bay and later to assist families separated at the Texas border under Trump-era federal immigration policies. She has seen what happens when constitutional rights are stripped away. She has spent her career making sure it does not happen here.
Like Justice Ginsburg, Judge Hawk believes individual rights and equal protection are not abstract concepts. They are what courts exist to defend. At a moment when those rights are under attack, Washington needs a justice who has spent her career protecting them.
A Record That Speaks for Itself
Judge Hawk receiving the Myra Bradwell Award with past recipient Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst
As a King County Superior Court Judge, Judge Hawk has presided over hundreds of criminal, civil, and family law cases, as well as appeals from lower courts. She has issued hundreds of written decisions in complex and high-stakes cases affecting families, businesses, workers, and constitutional rights.
She has never had a trial overturned for legal error.
Judge Hawk serves on the Washington Supreme Court’s Minority and Justice Commission and has helped lead statewide efforts to improve fairness, reduce bias, and strengthen public confidence in the courts.
Her commitment to justice has earned recognition throughout the legal profession, including the 21st annual Myra Bradwell Award for Gonzaga Alumnae Leadership, the Washington Defender Association President’s Award, and the American Bar Association’s "Star of the Year" Award for her work on access to justice.
The Trusted Choice to Protect Our Rights
U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell appointed her to a bipartisan federal judicial selection committee.
Judge Hawk is endorsed by more than 100 current and former judges and justices from across Washington.
She is endorsed by the Washington State Labor Council because she understands how hard it is for working families. She is endorsed by the National Women’s Political Caucus because she understands what is at stake for women today. She has been recognized as a "Democracy Champion" by FairVote Washington because she has spent her career defending voting rights and the rule of law.
As a sitting trial court judge, she sees every day how Supreme Court decisions affect real people’s lives. She knows what is at stake. She will be an independent voice that ensures our courts serve everyone — not just the elite and powerful.
Washington needs Judge Hawk on our Supreme Court.
