Judge Awaits Dream Court Job -- Pechman Nomination Sent To Clinton
Marsha Pechman may have to wait another year before she dons the robes of a federal court judge. But after two decades of smart career moves, she's more than willing to bide her time for President Clinton and the U.S. Senate.
Pechman, a King County Superior Court judge, went to work yesterday knowing that a dream she has aspired to her entire legal career was a step closer to reality.
"I've waited my whole career for this moment," she said of her nomination to U.S. District Court, "and I don't think it will be a problem to wait a little longer."
Sens. Patty Murray and Slade Gorton announced that they are nominating Pechman to succeed retiring U.S. District Court Judge William Dwyer.
Yesterday, the 47-year-old King County jurist was doing what she has done intermittently for 11 years: presiding over a murder trial.
Her demeanor was as no-nonsense and stoic as it is on any given day in her courtroom. But during the lunch break and recesses, she was able to relish the spotlight a bit. A fellow judge sent down a vase of flowers and good wishes.
Dwyer widely respected
Regardless of any political roadblocks she might run into on Capitol Hill, Pechman knows there's something distinctive about this judicial nomination. Her nomination is moving forward in one of the most politically turbulent times in Washington, D.C., and she would be filling the shoes of one of the most widely respected judges in the federal courthouse.
Mike McKay, a Seattle lawyer and influential Republican, co-chaired the selection committee that identified Pechman as a top finalist to succeed Dwyer. Assuming her nomination gets the green light from the White House and U.S. Senate, McKay predicted that she, too, will emerge as top-notch federal judge.
But he also worries that the impeachment proceedings and next year's presidential politics might hurt or even derail the nomination. Though Murray, a Democrat, and Gorton, a Republican, are both endorsing her, Pechman would still be viewed as a Clinton-Democratic nominee. And Republicans may be less inclined to confirm her appointment, McKay said, if they sense that a Republican president could be elected in 2000.
"We have to get her through the White House first, which might be a bit of a problem because of the distractions," he said. Her confirmation "is frankly going to take another year."
A native of Salem, Ore., Pechman first went to college thinking she would become a Broadway actress. She enrolled as a drama major at Cornell University but then decided acting wasn't her thing.
From Cornell, she moved on to Boston University Law School and, in 1976, began her career in the King County Prosecutor's Office, handling a variety of criminal cases. She later became a partner in the Seattle law firm of Levinson, Friedman, Vhugen, Duggan, Bland & Horowitz, often representing plaintiffs in lawsuits involving medical malpractice, personal injury and product liability.
She also has taught at the University of Washington Law School and the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) Law School.
Former Gov. Booth Gardner tapped her to fill a spot on the King County Superior Court bench, and almost immediately she began making her mark.
A few months after she was sworn in, Pechman ruled that a 7-year-old boy could not appear in a courtroom in his wheelchair because it might influence the jury. The boy had been beaten, allegedly by his mother's boyfriend, who was on trial for the boy's injuries. If the boy was seen in the courtroom, Pechman said at the time, "jurors might not be able to listen to facts."
In 1989, she upheld the Seattle School Board's controversial decision to close University Heights Elementary School, a 1902 campus. Despite the impassioned pleas of parents to save it, Pechman said she could find no legal reason to overturn the board's decision.
In 1994, she ruled on a lawsuit against the city of Seattle's historic-preservation ordinance, calling the city's actions in the case "absurd" and its enforcement efforts against developers "relentless."
In criminal cases, she has gained a reputation for being tough on offenders but fair and even-handed in her dealings with all attorneys. Recently, she completed assignment as the family court judge at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.
"She is very, very bright. Her integrity is beyond reproach," McKay said. "Those happen to be my first two criteria."
Pechman was one of three finalists selected from a strong pool of applicants who were first interviewed months ago. Given Dwyer's high stature in the legal community, McKay said he and co-chairwoman Jenny Durkan, a Seattle attorney and Democratic activist, made a point of seeking out his advice on necessary traits for a good federal court judge. Dwyer, 69, formally retired Dec. 1 but has vowed to maintain a full workload until his successor is approved. Yesterday, Dwyer praised Pechman as a likely successor.
"Her reputation as a judge is very high, and her personal history is one, I think, of great courage and fortitude," Dwyer said.
Fighting for survival
Five years ago, Pechman learned she had breast cancer. But determined to overcome the doctors' prognosis that gave her little time to live, she agreed to an experimental treatment involving stem-cell treatment. Today, the cancer is in remission.
Though she remains passionate about the law, family is also an important part of her life. Photographs of her husband of 23 years, Bill Fitzharris, also an attorney, and her two daughters, ages 13 and 10, sit on a table directly behind her desk. And a motto hangs on the wall above: "Once in your life you gave everything you had for justice." Pechman said she realizes she is following in the footsteps of a highly regarded federal-court judge, but she also thinks she "will now have to create my own shoes."
If her nomination is approved, Pechman hopes to do that "by trying to continue what I have set in motion during my 11-year judicial career, which is to not only try to handle each case fairly but to also make sure the process is fair for all cases."