“Frank Cuthbertson, appointed by Gov. Gary Locke Jan. 26, will be sworn in today as a Pierce County Superior Court judge. Cuthbertson, 47, is the county’s first African American member of the Pierce County Superior Court bench.The ceremony will be held at today, March 2, at 4 p.m. in room 100 at the County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave. S. Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerry Alexander will preside. Judge Sergio Armijo, a Hispanic, previously was the court’s only ethnic minority member. Armijo was appointed by then Gov. Mike Lowry in 1994. Prior to his appointment, Cuthbertson practiced health, employment, business litigation and general corporate law with the Tacoma firm Gordon, Thomas, Honeywell, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim. Civil rights law also has been a specialty.In appointing Cuthbertson to the bench, Locke noted people come to court seeking divorces, child custody decisions and other resolutions to some of life’s most wrenching situations. I want to make sure our citizens are served by the very best, brightest and hardest-working judges, the governor said. Cuthbertson clearly is the right person for the job, according to Locke. His reputation for integrity, fairness, hard work and intelligence precedes him.The new judge is a graduate of the Seattle University Law School and Duke University. He served as an adjunct professor and taught health law and law and medicine courses at Seattle University. He previously served as an attorney for Group Health Cooperative, as director of planning for the Tennessee Department of Mental Health, and as an organizer and legislative advocate for the Tennessee Hunger Coalition. “