Monday, Jan. 12, 2009

Superior Court Judge Yule retires today

Kristin M. Kraemer, Herald staff writer

Dennis Yule was a young law clerk in 1968 when he was drafted. Each night in Vietnam he'd shut out the frightening sounds of war with the soulful songs of Aretha Franklin.

Now, as Yule raps the gavel on an almost 23-year distinguished judicial career, he again will find himself comforted by the R&B singer's voice.

A parting gift from his Benton-Franklin Superior Court colleagues includes a trip to Chicago and tickets to see the singer in Indiana.

"It just has come up in casual conversation around the courthouse that if Aretha Franklin was ever within a 300-mile radius of the Tri-Cities, I was going to go see her because I really like her," Yule said.

That never happened, so instead he and wife Linda will travel about 2,000 miles for the concert. It just may ease Yule into his new life, one where the weightiest decision he could face is what hotel to book or which trail to hike.

His retirement from the bench is official today. Bruce Spanner will be sworn in at 4 p.m. today during a brief ceremony in the Franklin County Courthouse's historic courtroom. Benton-Franklin voters elected Spanner in November to succeed Yule.

"I miss everybody already," Yule, 65, said in his final days.

He has spent the past few weeks taking some vacation time, reviewing and finishing a couple of cases and winding up things at the office -- or, more specifically, offices.

Yule said it's been a little emotional to clear out his main chambers in the Pasco courthouse, which he has occupied for about 12 years.

"That was a little bit difficult. I got everything packed up and turned around and looked at the pretty empty looking room," he said.

He also has secondary chambers in the Benton County Justice Center and in the Benton-Franklin Juvenile Justice Center, both in Kennewick.

The question is where does he store all those books, binders and mementos that have been spread around three offices?

His Prosser home has an upstairs study complete with a desk, computer and file cabinet, but Linda Yule is "the family bookkeeper and records custodian and was a little concerned about me getting in her way all the time," said Dennis Yule. He chose his words carefully so as not to start his retirement on shaky ground.

"She suggested to me it might be nice if I had my own work area. ... I think I've been manipulated, but it's been OK."

He now has his own study across the hallway with enough space to plan his world explorations and tend to hobbies he's neglected over the years. He wants to start writing again, has a software program to learn Spanish and thinks it would be neat to learn to play the cello.

"I have no particular musical talent but I love the sound of the cello," he said. "I would like to be Yo-Yo Ma when I grow up!"

Yule was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 1986 by then-Gov. Booth Gardner to fill an unexpired term. The most veteran judge in the bicounty system, he announced his retirement plans in April. It wasn't an easy decision, Yule then said, but he wanted to spend more time with Linda and their children and grandkids.

Yule has about three dozen trips on his mind, including a return to South America and a train trip starting in Berlin, going across Siberia and ending in Beijing.

He also is thinking about a bicycle trip with his oldest son, riding half the route out of Pittsburgh on rails-to-trails then picking up the C&O Canal Tow Path into Washington, D.C. That trip might be extended so Yule can attend the annual meeting in Pittsburgh of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts.

Yule may be retiring but he's not washing his hands of the system.

He remains an executive committee member of the Washington state Minority and Justice Commission and is co-chairman of the juvenile justice advisory board overseeing the Benton-Franklin Juvenile Court's participation in the Models for Change initiative.

"It's not going to be a dramatic change because I've been weaning myself away, and I guess that's part of my subconscious agenda to stay part of things so I don't just walk out the door and leave it behind me. I won't be able to do that," Yule said.

He also plans to stay connected to drug court -- specialty programs for juveniles, adults and families that he helped start in Benton and Franklin counties.

Rene Muoz, who's been Yule's court reporter for 12 years since relocating from California, said she has been blessed to work with him.

"I could not have asked for a better boss. I was lucky because he's an incredible boss but an even more phenomenal person," she said. "With that combination, I always enjoyed coming to work."

Muoz will now be Spanner's reporter, responsible for taking a record of any judicial proceedings before the judge.

For Yule's retirement, Muoz loaded a digital picture frame with snapshots from events like adoptions, swearing-ins and going-away parties. Muoz, who took most of the pictures herself, said it's "detailing all of the work and people's lives that he's touched over the years."

Yule gave so much of himself to the job and the community benefited from his empathy and wisdom, she said.

"I don't know that you can honestly say one case or particular incident stands out and defines him because he treated every case that he heard as if it was his first. Everything he did he gave the same level of dedication ...," Muoz said. "He really is a tremendous human being and it encourages you to have a broader view of how you approach your daily life and how you interact with other people."

Yule said it's certainly possible to become jaded on the job. A lot of the cases before a judge -- from the child custodies to the juvenile and adult criminals -- have been heard dozens of times before.

The key is to remember that each case involves different people and varied circumstances and, in listening to the evidence and deciding it with care, the judge should "maintain that attitude of some self-doubt of 'Why should I be making this kind of decision?' " Yule said.

The workload isn't light and the gravity of it all can keep a judge awake at night, but there's nothing else Yule would trade those sleepless nights for.

"It was the opportunity of a lifetime. It's the gratification that I've received from being able to do that work ... that's exceeded anything that I expected when I first thought about becoming a judge," he said. "I just feel like I've been extraordinarily fortunate to sit on the bench."