Gov. Bob Ferguson has turned to a longtime colleague and top civil rights lawyer in naming his first pick to serve on the Washington Supreme Court.

Ferguson on Monday appointed Colleen Melody, whom he hired more than a decade ago to lead the civil rights division in the attorney general’s office, to fill the court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Mary Yu.

Flanked by Yu and several other state supreme court justices, Ferguson praised Melody at a news conference for her “brilliant legal mind” and said she’s known as a “creative problem solver and a fearless defender of democracy.”

Melody has led the Wing Luke Civil Rights Division of the attorney general’s office since 2015. Ferguson, then the state attorney general, hired her to build the new division at that time, to investi

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