Helen Whitener

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Helen Whitener

|image = Helen Whitener Bioographical.jpg

|office = Justice of the Washington Supreme Court

|appointer = Jay Inslee

|term_start = April 24, 2020

|term_end =

|predecessor = Charles K. Wiggins

|successor =

|birth_name = Grace Helen Whitener

|birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|55|2020|9|2}}

|birth_place = Trinidad and Tobago

|death_date =

|death_place =

|spouse = Lynn Rainey

|education = Baruch College (BBA)
Seattle University (JD)

}}

Grace Helen Whitener (born 1964 or 1965),{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Kip |date=October 2, 2020 |title=Supreme Court Justice Helen Whitener defends seat against former school administrator Richard Serns {{!}} The Spokesman-Review |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/sep/02/supreme-court-justice-helen-whitener-defends-seat-/ |access-date=November 26, 2024 |website=www.spokesman.com}} known professionally as G. Helen Whitener, is a Trinidadian-American attorney serving as an associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court. Whitener was nominated by Governor Jay Inslee on April 13, 2020, to fill the seat of retiring justice Charles K. Wiggins.{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/38b6f46382dfed494caafaa8a39755ed|title=Judge G. Helen Whitener appointed to state Supreme Court|date=2020-04-13|website=AP NEWS|access-date=2020-04-14}}

Early life and education

Whitener was born and raised in Trinidad. She moved to the United States when she was 16 to receive medical care. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in international marketing and trade from Baruch College, followed by a Juris Doctor from the Seattle University School of Law.{{Cite web|url=https://law.seattleu.edu/newsroom/lawyer-magazine/judge-g-helen-whitener-speaks-up-for-human-rights-in-her-birth-country-of-trinidad|title=You can go home again: Judge G. Helen Whitener speaks up for human rights in her birth country of Trinidad : Seattle University School of Law : Seattle Washington|website=law.seattleu.edu|access-date=2020-04-14|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101022226/https://law.seattleu.edu/newsroom/lawyer-magazine/judge-g-helen-whitener-speaks-up-for-human-rights-in-her-birth-country-of-trinidad|url-status=dead}}

Career

After graduating from law school, Whitener worked as a public defender, prosecutor, and private defense attorney.{{Cite web|url=https://tacomaweekly.com/featured-news/judge-whitener-named-keynote-speaker-for-2018-black-women-rise-conference/|title=Judge Whitener named keynote speaker for 2018 Black Women Rise Conference|last=Staff|first=Tacoma Weekly|date=2017-10-26|website=Tacoma Weekly|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-13|archive-date=September 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926161123/https://tacomaweekly.com/featured-news/judge-whitener-named-keynote-speaker-for-2018-black-women-rise-conference/|url-status=dead}}

She served as a judge on the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals for two years and then on the Pierce County Superior Court from 2015 to 2020, having been appointed by Governor Inslee and elected unopposed in 2015 and 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/politics/inslee-to-name-new-state-supreme-court-justice/281-6f2766aa-ec7a-46ae-a684-62f080c7da10|title=Pierce County Judge G. Helen Whitener named to Washington State Supreme Court|website=KING|date=April 13, 2020 |access-date=2020-04-13}}{{Cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/G._Helen_Whitener|title=G. Helen Whitener|website=Ballotpedia|language=en|access-date=2020-04-13}}

On April 13, 2020, she was appointed to the Washington Supreme Court by Governor Jay Inslee.{{Cite press release |title=Inslee appoints Judge G. Helen Whitener to the Washington State Supreme Court |date=April 13, 2020 |url=https://www.governor.wa.gov/news-media/inslee-appoints-judge-g-helen-whitener-washington-state-supreme-court |access-date=April 21, 2020}} She successfully ran for election in 2020 for the remaining two years of Wiggins's term,{{Cite web|url=https://mynorthwest.com/1814052/judge-whitener-washington-supreme-court/?|title=Judge G. Helen Whitener appointed to the WA Supreme Court|date=2020-04-13|website=MyNorthwest.com|access-date=2020-04-14}} winning 66% of the vote.{{cite web|url=https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20201103/supreme-court-justice-position-06.html|title=November 3, 2020 General Election Results: Supreme Court - Justice Position #06|author=Washington Secretary of State|access-date=2021-05-31}}

Personal life

She is the first African-American, LGBTQ judge in Washington and second African-American member of the Washington Supreme Court after Charles Z. Smith. She is disabled.{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/grace-helen-whitener-washington-supreme-court.html|title=Washington State Now Has the Most Diverse Supreme Court In History| author-link=Mark Joseph Stern |last=Stern|first=Mark Joseph|date=2020-04-17|website=Slate Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-04-23}}{{Cite web|url=https://theappeal.org/politicalreport/washington-new-justice-whitener/|title=A New Supreme Court Justice Could Swing Criminal Justice Decisions in Washington|website=The Appeal Political Report|language=en|access-date=2020-04-23}} Whitener is co-chair of the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission.

Whitner is married to Lynn Rainey, a fellow graduate of the Seattle University School of Law and an LGBTQ activist.{{Cite web|url=https://law.seattleu.edu/newsroom/2019-news/judge-helen-whitener-98-named-woman-of-the-year|title=Judge Helen Whitener '98 named Woman of the Year : Seattle University School of Law : Seattle Washington|website=law.seattleu.edu|access-date=2020-04-14|archive-date=July 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730195918/https://law.seattleu.edu/newsroom/2019-news/judge-helen-whitener-98-named-woman-of-the-year|url-status=dead}}