Barbara Madsen

American judge (born 1952)

Barbara A. Madsen (née Rupnick; born March 1, 1952) is an American lawyer who was an associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court from 1993 to 2026. She joined the court in 1993 as the first woman to be popularly elected to the Court in Washington state history. She was re-elected in 1998, , 2010, and 2016. In her years on the Washington Supreme Court, Madsen sat in judgement on thousands of cases.

On November 5, 2009, Madsen was unanimously elected by her peers to serve as Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court.

She was sworn in as Chief Justice on January 11, 2010, replacing retiring Chief Justice Gerry L. Alexander . She served two terms as Chief Justice, the second longest serving in Washington state history. In September 2025, Madsen surpassed Mark A. Fullerton to become the second longest-serving Supreme Court Justice in Washington state history, behind her colleague Justice Charles W. Johnson .

Madsen was born in Chicago , the daughter of Edward John and Marion Durkin Rupnick. She moved as a child to Renton, Washington , and graduated from Hazen High School . After attending Western Washington University , she graduated from the University of Washington in 1974, and in 1977, she earned her Juris Doctor from Gonzaga University School of Law . She married Donald Madsen in 1980, and they would have four children.

After completing law school, Madsen worked as a public defender in King County and Snohomish County . In 1982, she joined the Seattle City Attorney's Office and was appointed Special Prosecutor in 1984. Seattle Mayor Charles Royer appointed Madsen in 1988 to the Seattle Municipal Court bench. After serving as the Presiding Judge of the Seattle Municipal Court, she ran for the Washington Supreme Court in 1992 to fill the vacancy left by retiring Justice Fred H. Dore .

Madsen married Donald Madsen in 1980. They remained married until his death from ALS in 2022. They had four children together: Sam, Hillary, Eleanor, and Beau.

In October 2018, Madsen concurred when the majority invalidated the state's death penalty . The court found its imposition to be racially biased and therefore in violation of the Constitution of Washington .

Madsen retired from the Supreme Court of Washington on April 3, 2026.

See also

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barbara_Madsen&action=edit&section=1 "Edit section: See also")
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• List of female state supreme court justices

References

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barbara_Madsen&action=edit&section=2 "Edit section: References")
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 ["Washington State Courts - Supreme Court Bios - Justice Barbara A. Madsen"](https://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts/supreme/bios/?fa=scbios.display_file&fileID=madsen)
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1. ↑ "Washington State Courts - Washington Court News" .
2. ↑ "Washington State Courts - News, Reports, Court Information" .
3. ↑ http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_scow_madsen_chief.html [_permanent dead link
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4. ↑ "Early Supreme Court Justices" . Washington Courts. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
5. ↑ Who's Who in American Politics, 1999-2000 . Marquis Who's Who. 1999. p. 2364.
6. ↑ http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1996/9605190072.asp [_permanent dead link
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7. ↑ NWSidebar (September 7, 2022). "September 2022 > In Remembrance" . Washington State Bar News. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
8. ↑ Note, Recent Case: Washington State Supreme Court Declares Death Penalty Unconstitutional In Washington , 132 Harv. L. Rev. 1764 (2019).
9. ↑ State v. Gregory, 427 P.3d 621 (Wash. 2018).
10. ↑ "WA Supreme Court Justice Barbara Madsen the latest to step down after serving 30+ years" . MyNorthwest.com. February 3, 2026. Retrieved February 3, 2026.

External links

[(https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barbara_Madsen&action=edit&section=3 "Edit section: External links")
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• Re-Elect Chief Justice Madsen Campaign Website

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barbara_Madsen&oldid=1363262159 "

Categories :

• 1952 births

• 20th-century American judges

• 20th-century American women judges

• 21st-century American judges

• 21st-century American women judges

• Chief justices of the Washington Supreme Court

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