Olympia — State Rep. Sherry Appleton (23rd District) has been named the recipient of the Champion of Justice Award for 2010, in recognition of her active defense of the individual rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights. The award, presented by the Washington State chapter of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL), is bestowed on “an individual who — through legislative, judicial, journalistic, or humanitarian pursuits — has staunchly preserved or defended the constitutional rights of Washington residents and endeavored to ensure justice and due process . . . .”
Appleton’s selection was based on her lifelong commitment to and work on behalf of individual liberty, but her efforts during the 2010 session of the state Legislature were key. The tragic murders of several Washington law-enforcement professionals in the months preceding the session led to the introduction of several pieces of crime-related legislation this year, all of which were channeled through Appleton’s House Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Committee. Her task on that committee and in the full House was to help craft laws to protect the public without over-reacting and trampling on the civil liberties that, as she said on the House floor, are “about social justice, about a framework for society we should live by.”
“To be called a champion of justice is truly an honor,” Appleton said of the award. “Our state and national constitutions are the foundations of this society that we’re all fortunate to live in. But sometimes, in the heat of powerful human emotions, it’s tempting to set them aside for expediency’s sake. I understand that. But I also believe that part of what makes America great is our willingness to swallow hard and do the right thing even when it’s the tough thing.”
Appleton, a Democrat, is a former two-term Poulsbo city council member who has represented her Kitsap County legislative district in the state House since 2005. She is vice-chair of the House State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee, and also sits on the chamber’s Health & Human Services Appropriations panel. Outside the Legislature, Appleton is a member of the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission and chairs the Commission’s Juvenile Sentencing Committee, and was recently appointed to serve on the state’s Public Defense Advisory Committee. She is a charter member of Legislators’ Leadership Council on HIV/AIDS at the Center for Women’s Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. In addition, she is a former member of the Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct and was appointed by Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton to serve on the Washington State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
The Champion of Justice Award will be presented to Appleton June 11 during the WACDL’s annual conference in Chelan.