Washington Courts: News and Information

Washington Supreme Court to Visit Port Townsend

The justices of the Washington Supreme Court will visit schools, hold an open public forum at Port Townsend City Hall, and hear arguments on three real cases at the County Courthouse in a community visit to Jefferson County on May 13th and 14th.

After visiting school assemblies at Quilcene School, Chimacum High School and Port Townsend High School on Monday, May 13, the justices will answer questions at a public forum beginning at 3 p.m. at Port Townsend City Hall, 250 Madison Street.

The public is also invited to observe the justices hear arguments in three appeals cases beginning at 9 a.m. on May 14 in the superior courtroom at Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St, Port Townsend. Each case involves roughly an hour of arguments by attorneys and will be followed by a question and answer session after the morning and afternoon sessions.

One attorney in the second case of the day, Jacob Fox Metzger, is a graduate of Port Townsend High School.

“We welcome anyone interested in seeing how the Supreme Court conducts oral arguments or in learning more about how the judicial branch operates,” said Chief Justice Mary E. Fairhurst. “We enjoy answering questions and hearing from members of the community.”

Chief Justice Fairhurst and Associate Justices Charles Johnson, Barbara Madsen, Susan Owens, Debra Stephens, Charles Wiggins, Steven González, Sheryl Gordon McCloud and Mary Yu will hear the following cases at the superior court beginning at 9 a.m.:

• No. 96313-4, State of Washington v. Frank A. Wallmuller: Whether a community custody condition prohibiting the convicted defendant from frequenting “places where children congregate such as parks, video arcades, campgrounds, and shopping malls” is unconstitutionally vague.
• No. 96262-6, Service Employees International Union Local 925 v. Freedom Foundation: Whether email messages kept on a public university’s email system consisting of exchanges between university employees and a private labor union concerning unionization efforts are public records subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW.

The court will reconvene at 1:30 p.m. to hear the last case of the day:

• No. 96660-5, Mark Elster and Sarah Pynchon v. City of Seattle: Whether the city of Seattle’s campaign voucher program, which levies a property tax to fund vouchers that city residents can use to support political candidates, violates First Amendment principles.

The state’s highest court is located in Olympia in the Temple of Justice on the state capitol grounds. For more than a decade, the Supreme Court has heard cases “on the road” three times a year to help citizens to see the court in action in their local communities.

Though cameras and video recorders are generally allowed, the Court asks that no flash, other lights or noisy film advance mechanisms be used during the hearings. Oral arguments will be taped for broadcast at a later date on TVW, Washington’s Public Affairs network.