Associate Justice Mary Yu of Washington State Supreme Court

8/08/2018

Associate Justice Mary Yu

c/o Washington State Supreme Court

PO Box  40929

Olympia, WA  98504-0929

Dear Associate Yu,

My name is Matt Winick, an Asian American from Ann Arbor, Michigan with a strong interest in learning history with social justice. In these subjects, I like to learn the need to make Civil Rights stronger to reduce discrimination, have criminal justice reform to help protect people’s rights while reduce crime, and many others.  Associate Yu, the main reason I’m writing you a letter is to explain how I find your work as Associate Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court to be very inspiring to me.

In May 2014, I was amazed on how you made history by becoming the first Asian American and first openly gay to become an Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court.  In your current role as Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court, I truly appreciate on how you are a strong supporter of Civil Rights by advocating for people with disabilities’ rights, expressing the need for strict laws to combat against hate-crime to help protect people who are different, and strongly express the importance of the criminal justice system to reduce racial profiling to help protect immigrants along with minorities from being oppressed.  Supporting the idea of having drug treatment programs to help drug-users get the care they need to reduce drug abuse, working with the court system including law enforcement resources to expand programs to help victims of crime or victims of domestic violence get help on dealing with their trauma, and heavily advocate for the need for funds for forensic science along with DNA testing to reduce sending an innocent person to jail while reduce crime is common sense for criminal justice reform.   Another thing that I like about your work as Associate Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court is how you support the need for the court system to expand on more civics including educational classes about the court system to help engage youth including people to understand how they court or the criminal justice system works, advocate for immigration reform to help protect immigrants including refugees from being oppressed, and support more educational awareness to help teach people about the need to reduce gun violence or drug abuse.  Besides your work in the Washington Supreme Court, I really like on how you are very active in the Asian American community by advocating for Asian Americans with disabilities’ rights, supporting more educational awareness about Asian American culture to teach people about their culture, and heavily advocate for more rights for Asian Americans to be accepted into society along with getting jobs.

Associate Justice Yu, I have autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different advance subjects, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased. Your commitment to be a strong supporter of Civil Rights including people with disabilities’ rights really inspires me to work hard on my disability. Also being an Asian American with a disability is difficult for me because some Asians including some Asian Americans tease me or get extremely judgmental about me being different from them or not meeting their standards. However, your role as an Asian American and being active in the Asian American community helps give me confidence about being an Asian American when I struggle with a disability and to learn more about Asian American culture.  Also your role as Associate Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court gives me motivation to continue to learn more history with social justice.  My future goal is to someday work in these areas to help emphasize the need to make Civil Rights stronger to reduce discrimination, have criminal justice reform to help protect people’s rights while reduce crime, and many others.

I strongly believe that you are making a great impact in the judicial system, society, and the Asian American community.  I’m very proud on how you are working hard to improve the criminal justice system, support Civil Rights, and many others. You have inspired me to work hard on my disability, continue to learn history with social justice, and try to continue to be confident about being an Asian American with a disability.  Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard to make a great difference for the community, and inspiring me. please continue to advocate and push for common sense ideas.

Sincerely,

Matt Winick