Island man challenges Superior Court judge

The constitution of the state of Washington states that to be a superior court judge, one must be admitted to practice law in the courts of record of the state.

Puget Island resident Dennis Gordon is a retired college professor and still works as a consultant in his field, nutritional biochemistry. He is not a lawyer.

So why is he mounting a write-in campaign for election as Superior Court judge of Pacific and Wahkiakum counties?

The answer to that question, Gordon said this week, is that he had a bad experience with a divorce case in Wahkiakum County Superior Court, and he wants people to know that aspects of the judicial system need to change.

"The bottom line is that I feel I was unjustly treated and I want to make the citizens of the county aware of what can happen in these courts," he said.

"My goal is that this will never happen again to another person in Wahkiakum County," he said. "I want to expose the abuse of power in the judicial system.

"The purpose of the campaign is education."

Gordon said he also plans to ask state legislators to sponsor a bill that would change the way divorce cases are handled, including sending contested divorces to arbitration to prevent the legal disputes that hurt people going through divorces.

In his case, Gordon said, he was harassed by his ex-wife's lawyer; all his financial records and computers were subpoenaed which caused him to lose consulting jobs because he had no access to his data, and there was perjury that court officials didn't prosecute.

"They abused their power and played a game with me," he said. "It was controlled theft under the guise of the law."

Gordon added that he has been able to restart his consulting business, which makes him financially able to do what he wants to do.

"I'm lucky," he said. "Other people aren't so fortunate."

Gordon said he has been a professor at the University of Missouri and North Dakota State University. He served in the Vietnam War as a captain in the US Army and earned a Bronze Star.