Charles W. Johnson (Washington)
This page is about the Washington Supreme Court justice. If you are looking for another judge named "Charles Johnson," please see: Charles Johnson.
1991 - Present
2027
34
Charles W. Johnson is a judge for Position 4 of the Washington Supreme Court. He assumed office on January 14, 1991. His current term ends on January 10, 2027.
Johnson ran for re-election for the Position 4 judge of the Washington Supreme Court. He won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Johnson first became a member of the Washington Supreme Court through a nonpartisan election. He was first elected to the court in 1990 to the seat vacated by Keith Callow.[1] Johnson became associate chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court in 2017.[2] To read more about judicial selection in Washington, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[3] Johnson received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.[4] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Before serving on the supreme court, Johnson practiced law with a private firm. In 1990, he was elected to the Washington Supreme Court. His professional experience also includes serving as an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law.[2] Johnson received his bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in 1974 and his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law in 1976.[5]
Johnson was awarded the 2012 John J. McAulay Legal Educator Award by the Seattle University School of Law.[6]
Elections
2020
See also: Washington Supreme Court elections, 2020
General election
General election for Washington State Supreme Court Position 4
Incumbent Charles W. Johnson won election in the general election for Washington State Supreme Court Position 4 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Charles W. Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 97.7 | 2,850,924 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.3 | 66,407 | ||
| Total votes: 2,917,331 | |||
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Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Charles W. Johnson advanced from the primary for Washington State Supreme Court Position 4.
2014
See also: Washington judicial elections, 2014
Johnson ran for re-election to the Washington Supreme Court.
General: He defeated Eddie Yoon in the general election on November 4, 2014, receiving 73.3 percent of the vote.
[7]
2008
| Candidate | Incumbent | Seat | Primary % | Election % |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charles W. Johnson  |
Yes | Position #4 | 59.2% | 100% | |
| James Beecher | No | Position #4 | 30.4% | ||
| Frank Vulliet | No | Position #4 | 10.4% |
2002
| Candidate | Incumbent | Seat | Primary % | Election % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles W. Johnson |
Position #4 | 40.8% | 54.6% | ||
| Pamela Loginsky | Position #4 | 36.7% | 45.4% | ||
| Doug Shafer | Position #4 | 22.4% |
Campaign finance
In the 2002 race for the Washington Supreme Court, Charles Johnson raised $114,363.[11]
For a breakdown of money raised, click Follow the Money, "Charles Johnson".
1996
| Candidate | Incumbent | Seat | Primary % | Election % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles W. Johnson |
Position #3 | 46.9% | 62.2% | ||
| Douglas J. Smith | Position #3 | 34.2% | 37.8 percent | ||
| Barnett N. Kalikow | Position #3 | 18.7% |
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Charles W. Johnson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[13]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[14]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Charles
Johnson
Washington
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Received donations from Democrat-affiliated individuals or organizations
- Endorsed by Democratic-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Johnson received $5,125 in donations from the Washington Education Association, $1,617 in donations from the Washington State Democratic Party, $2,600 in donations from the Washington Teamsters Legislative League, $1,900 from the Washington State Association For Justice, and $500 from the 48th District Democratic Organization, all of which more frequently contribute to Democratic candidates than Republicans. He was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, the Washington Education Association, the Washington State Labor Council, theTeamsters Joint Council 28, the WA State Council of Firefighters, all of which more frequently endorse Democratic candidates than Republicans.
Other Scores:
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Johnson received a campaign finance score of -1.16, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -0.91 that justices received in Washington.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[15]
Noteworthy cases
Marijuana odor in vehicle
Johnson wrote the majority opinion for a unanimous decision in July 2008 determining that police cannot arrest passengers for riding in a car that smells like marijuana. He wrote in the opinion, "Our cases have strongly and rightfully protected our constitution's protection of individual privacy. The protections... do not fade away or disappear within the confines of an automobile. We hold that the smell of marijuana in the general area where an individual is located is insufficient, without more, to support probable cause for arrest. Where no other evidence exists linking the passenger to any criminal activity, an arrest of the passenger on the suspicion of possession of illegal substances, and any subsequent searches, is invalid and an unconstitutional invasion of that individual's right to privacy."[16]
Dissent on freedom of information
On May 13, 2004, the Washington Supreme Court ruled in a 5 to 4 decision that the attorney-client privilege overrides the rights for accessing documents under the Public Disclosure Act. Chief Justice Gerry Alexander wrote for the majority that the legislature "created the exemption when it amended the disclosure law, which makes most government documents available to the public, in 1987." Johnson wrote in the dissent that the decision "renders ineffectual the [law's] strong mandate to agencies that they must disclose public information," and that the law applies only to lawyers, not governmental agencies. Johnson's dissent was signed by Justices Barbara Madsen, Richard Sanders and Tom Chambers.[17]
State supreme court judicial selection in Washington
- See also: Judicial selection in Washington
The nine justices of the supreme court are selected through contested nonpartisan elections and must run for re-election when their terms expire. Supreme court judges serve for six years.[18]
Qualifications
To serve on the supreme court, a judge must be:
- admitted to practice law in Washington; and
- under the age of 75.[19]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected through a peer vote and has a set term of four years.[20]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement. The appointee serves until the next general election, at which point he or she may run to serve for the remainder of the predecessor's term.[21] If the resignation and subsequent appointment takes place after the filing period opens for that year's elections, the appointee must stand in the next year's election to remain on the bench.[22]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
|
Officeholder Washington State Supreme Court Position 4 |
Footnotes
- ↑ Washington Post, "'Blue collar' justice adopts common sense as his rule of law," August 20, 1991
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Washington Courts, "Associate Chief Justice Charles W. Johnson," accessed December 26, 2014
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Associate Chief Justice Charles W. Johnson (WA)," accessed December 26, 2014
- ↑ Washington Courts Press Release "Washington Supreme Court Justice Charles Johnson honored for lifetime dedication to legal education," September 21, 2012
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, “2014 Judicial Election Results,” accessed July 23, 2021
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Primary Election Results - Judicial," August 19, 2008
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "General Election Results - Judicial," November 4, 2008
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Election Search Results – 2002 General Election," accessed December 26, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Charles Johnson," accessed July 23, 2021
- ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Past Election Results: Position #3, State Supreme Court," accessed December 26, 2014
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ Stop the Drug War, "Probable Cause: Washington Supreme Court Rules Marijuana Smell in Vehicle Not Enough to Arrest All Occupants," July 25, 2008
- ↑ The Seattle Times, "Court: Attorney-client privilege overrides open-records law," May 14, 2004
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, Methods of Judicial Selection: Washington," accessed April 16, 2025
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, Methods of Judicial Selection: Washington," accessed April 16, 2025
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, Methods of Judicial Selection: Washington," accessed April 16, 2025
- ↑ Washington State Legislature, "Washington State Constitution," accessed April 16, 2025 (Scroll to Article IV, Section 3)
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, Methods of Judicial Selection: Washington," accessed April 16, 2025
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington
State courts:
Washington Supreme Court • Washington Court of Appeals • Washington Superior Court • Washington District Courts • Washington Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Washington • Washington judicial elections • Judicial selection in Washington
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