Editor,

It’s often difficult to know enough about the candidates for Appeals Court judge and I would like to recommend Cecily Hazelrigg-Hernandez for the position in Division 1, District 3, Judge Position 1. Cecily has worked for many years as a public defender in Skagit County. She probably has more courtroom experience than all the other candidates combined and (most importantly in my mind) knows the problems faced by the people most marginalized by the criminal legal system. Cecily has seen firsthand how migrant farm workers are profiled and targeted by police, how non-English speakers suffer in the system, and how the poor are forced into pleading guilty to get out of jail because they can’t afford bail. She is precisely the kind of person I want hearing issues of criminal law on appeal — someone who knows what really happens. I’m impressed with the people who are supporting her and she gets my vote.

Georgia A. Gardner

Coupeville