Carolyn Dimmick Final PDF.indd - Washington Secretary of State

Dimmick: Sandra wrote me a very nice letter.
Hughes: Tell me about that.
Dimmick: She wrote a letter. I think I might even have it over there, a picture of her and
congratulations, that kind of thing. And I later on met her and know her. Very lovely
woman.
Hughes: Tell me about her in terms of jurisprudence. She is pretty amazing intellectually,
too, isn’t she?
Dimmick: Yes. Right in the center, I would say.
Hughes: It’s interesting that you said that because she was a crucial swing vote on the high
court for all those years. And her approach to jurisprudence sort of vacillated between
somewhat moderate to more conservative. Did you see a lot of yourself in Sandra Day
O’Connor as a kindred spirit?
Dimmick: Yes, I certainly did. And I think history will bear that out on my opinions.
Hughes: Are you more conservative than she is?
Dimmick: I can’t tell. I mean who can compare? I don’t know.
Hughes: Did you think that when Sandra Day O’Connor was elevated to the nation’s court
of last resort that that might be something that would be in the future for you too?
Dimmick: Oh heaven’s no. I didn’t even think I would want to go to the Washington State
Supreme Court. … I did not want to leave Seattle and go down there.
Hughes: The drive was better in those days.
Dimmick: Well, I got an apartment down there. Because I felt I had to do double time.
I left my family and I got an apartment, and I would come home on the weekends. My
daughter was at UPS. And my husband was here with his law practice and the dog. So it
was hard. It was. So I studied all the time, worked hard and did my thing.
Hughes: How old were your kids at that time?
Dimmick: Well, my daughter was in college and my son is older.
Hughes: Do you have any strong feelings about the way judges get appointed?
Dimmick: Well, yes. In fact, Judge Bill Dwyer and I were on a committee to look into
that, to try to make recommendations on whether to go with some of the other plans in
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