David Soukup, ’61, 1933-2023
King County judge who advocated for children in courtroom dies at 90
David Soukup, a King County Superior Court judge who came up with the idea to give children court-appointed advocates, died Dec. 16, the day after his 90th birthday, from natural causes.
His daughter, Mary-Pat Soukup, confirmed his death.
Soukup served as a King County judge from 1969 to 1983. During that time, he became concerned about the lack of information available to the court when making decisions for children who have experienced abuse or neglect.
He asked friends and staff to recruit volunteers who could come to court on their behalf, and that group in 1977 grew into the now nationwide organization of court appointed special advocates known as CASA.
“It terrified me to make decisions about kids when I didn’t have anybody there that was only advocating for the child,” Soukup recalled about the founding in a 2018 interview with CASA. He had to decide whether to remove a 3-year-old child from her home and felt nobody in the courtroom could speak up for her. “Who is more unable to represent themselves than a 3-, 4-, 5-, 10-year-old child?”
The organization began in King County with about 50 volunteers after Soukup asked his bailiff to spread the word about his idea. CASA volunteers are trained by their state or local CASA office and are appointed by a judge to gather information about the child and make recommendations in their best interest. CASA and Guardian Ad Litem programs now exist in 49 states and have nearly 100,000 volunteers.
“Judges need CASA volunteers in their courts and they really need them to be a party to the action, because there’s no one else in that courtroom whose only function is to address the child’s needs. Everyone else has some other role,” Soukup said in 2018.
Read more at The Seattle Times