Washington Courts: Judicial News Report Detail

News And Photo Ops

A nationally known law professor and media commentator will lead a panel of judges, lawyers, a newspaper publisher and others, in a give-and-take discussion of how judges should balance professional independence with public accountability.

Yakima County Prosecutor Jeff Sullivan and state Representative Ida Ballasiotes, are among the panelists, as is Tacoma Tribune publisher, Kelso Gillenwater. University of Southern California law professor Irwin Chemerinsky, legal consultant and commentator for CBS News, CNBC, CNN and other media during the O.J. Simpson trial, will moderate the discussion.

Contact: Robert M. Henderson, Public Information Officer, Office of the Administrator for the Courts (509) 452-6511.

TOMORROW (9/9) AT 1:30 P.M.

Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Durham and two local jurists will join two dozen other state judges when they pair up with Yakima area teachers to teach kids about the legal system.

Local judges include Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Brown and Yakima County District Court Judge Randall Marquis. An alumnus of Eisenhower High School, now a Vancouver judge, will also participate.

Schools include Eisenhower and Davis High Schools in the Yakima school district, plus Apple Valley and Cottonwood Elementary, and West Valley high and middle schools in the West Valley district. (An information release was faxed to Yakima media 9/4)

Contact: Wendy Killian, Public Information Assistant, Office of the Administrator for the Courts, (509) 452-6511.

WEDNESDAY (9/10) AT 9 A.M.

"Resolved: Cameras in courtrooms and interviews of trial participants by print and broadcast media outside courts, prevent high profile trials from being conducted in a manner that provides justice and promotes respect for the law."

That's the question to be debated during a three-hour program Wednesday morning at the convention center. Led by King County Judge Robert Lasnik, the panel will include print and broadcast editors and reporters, judges, and First Amendment lawyers.

Before the debate, Lasnik and Seattle Times managing editor Alex MacLeod and Times investigative reporter Duff Wilson, will describe how the bench-bar-press "Fire Brigade" works to mediate disputes between bench and press.

Contact: Robert M. Henderson, Public Information Officer, Office of the Administrator for the Courts (509) 452-6511.