Law Commons^™

Criminal Caselaw Notebook 2024, Hon. Ronald Kessler

Washington State Books

This publication from King County Superior Court judge Ronald Kessler is updated semi-annually and is distributed free of charge. It includes citations to Washington state case law on a variety of criminal law topics.

Committed To Commitment: The Problem With Washington State’S Involuntary Treatment Act, Hannah Garland

Washington Law Review

Washington State utilizes the Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) to civilly commit individuals experiencing behavioral health crises. Although civil commitment involves stripping away fundamental rights, it receives less attention than criminal incarceration. The ITA is meant to protect not just the general community, but also the rights of people with behavioral health disorders who utilize the ITA system. Yet, its implementation tells a different story. Individuals in King County are detained and committed repeatedly, without receiving consistent care. Furthermore, the ITA disproportionately impacts unhoused individuals and Black individuals. As the ITA continues to grow both in utilization and expense, other community-based …

When Uncle Sam Spills: A State Regulator’S Guide To Enforcement Actions Against The Federal Government Under The Clean Water Act, Ian M. Staeheli

Washington Law Review

The U.S. government is one of the largest polluters on the planet. With over 700 domestic military bases and countless more federal facilities and vessels operating within state borders, there exists an enormous potential for spills and discharges of pollutants into state waters. The regulatory burden for enforcing environmental laws against the federal government falls on the Environmental Protection Agency and state regulators. But enforcing laws and regulations against the federal government and its progeny is a daunting regulatory task.

Other scholarship addresses some of the vexing peculiarities involved when regulating Uncle Sam. Those works discuss the “confusing mess” that …

Race And Washington’S Criminal Justice System: 2021 Report To The Washington Supreme Court, Task Force 2.0

Washington Law Review

RACE & WASHINGTON’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM:

EDITOR’S NOTE

As Editors-in-Chief of the Washington Law Review, Gonzaga Law Review, and Seattle University Law Review, we represent the flagship legal academic publications of each law school in Washington State. Our publications last joined together to publish the findings of the first Task Force on Race and the Criminal Justice System in 2011/12. A decade later, we are honored to join once again to present the findings of Task Force 2.0. Law journals have enabled generations of legal professionals to introduce, vet, and distribute new ideas, critiques of existing legal structures, and reflections …

Amicus Curiae Brief Of Professors Karen Boxx And Gregory Hicks, May V. County Of Spokane, 199 Wash.2d 389 (2022) (No. 99598-2), Karen Boxx, Greg Hicks

Court Briefs

This case raises the difficult question of how to deal with the stain of racial restrictive covenants that have long been rendered unenforceable and illegal but remain in the property records. Petitioner is seeking to have such an offending covenant physically removed from the public records relating to his real property under authority of former Washington statute RCW 49.60.227 (2018). Since Petitioner has begun this quest, the legislature amended RCW 49.60.227 to provide a more detailed procedure to address the remnants of racism in property records, but this new procedure does not afford Petitioner the remedy that he sought under …

Water Banks In Washington State: A Tool For Climate Resilience, Jennifer J. Seely

Washington Law Review

Water banks—a tool for exchanging senior water rights and offsetting new ones—can address multiple problems in contemporary water law. In the era of climate change, water banks enable needed flexibility and resilience in water allocation. As growing cities require new water rights, water banks can repurpose old water for new uses. These advantages should lead the Washington State Legislature to incentivize water banks, but in the 2018 “Hirst fix” it embraced habitat restoration as a false equivalent for water. The Legislature is rightfully concerned about the speculation that some private water banks allow. But overall, water banks enable new and …

Clarifying Washington's Approach To The Independent Duty Doctrine, Margaret Wykowski

Washington Law Review

When faced with limited or no recovery under contract law, resourceful lawyers often turn to tort law. The economic loss rule restricts this practice by barring recovery in tort for solely economic losses. However, what qualifies as “economic loss” is not always clear. In 2010, the Washington State Supreme Court announced it was clarifying the economic loss rule by adopting the independent duty doctrine. Rather than analyze the type of loss suffered, the independent duty doctrine determines whether a party owed a tort duty independent of the relevant contract, closely mirroring a traditional tort inquiry. When establishing the independent duty …

Providing A Meaningful Opportunity For Release: A Proposal For Improving Washington's Miller-Fix, Maya L. Ramakrishnan

Washington Law Review

Miller v. Alabama1 set forth new constitutional requirements that necessitated changes in Washington State’s sentencing law for children. In response, the Washington legislature passed RCW 9.94A.730: a parole statute that presumptively releases children who committed crimes after they have served twenty years. Unless the parole board finds they are more likely than not to commit a future crime if released, the Miller-fix statute requires that eligible petitioners are released. The parole board has wide discretion in determining whether someone is more likely than not to commit a future crime because the statute provides no guidance about how to make this …

The Economics And Politics Of Washington's Taxes: From Statehood To 2013, Don Burrows

Washington State Books

The book is divided into three parts. Part I contains five chapters. Chapters 1 and 4 provide a description, comparison and evaluation of Washington’s current tax structure. Chapter 2 provides a description, history and evaluation to the state’s three most important taxes: property, sales and B&O. Chapter 3 describes the roles played by the “tax policy makers” (i.e., citizens, governors, legislators, other public officials, businesses, labor groups, and numerous other interest group) in bringing about those changes. Chapter 5 includes a discussion and an analysis of contentious tax issues of concern to citizens, public officials and interest groups alike. Most …

Rolling Back The Tide: Challenging The Criminalization Of Immigrants In Washington State, Angélica Cházaro

Articles

No abstract provided.

Legislative History, Initiatives, And Bill Tracking, Peggy Roebuck Jarrett

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• How a Bill Becomes a Law
• The Process of Researching Legislative History in Washington
• Sources of Legislative History Documents
• Researching Initiatives and Referenda
• Legislative Bill Tracking
• Tips on Using the Legislature's Search Feature

Administrative Decisions And Materials, Cheryl Rae Nyberg

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Administrative Agencies' Functions and Procedures
• Multi-Agency Sources of Administrative Decisions
• Agency-Specific Sources
• Databases
• Administrative Agency Decisions at a Glance

Fundamentals Of Legal Research In Washington, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Secondary Sources
• Statutes
• City and County Codes
• Administrative Regulations
• Case Law
• Case Finding Tools
• Attorney General Opinions
• Citator Services
• Citation Format
• Washington Courts Style Sheet

Computer-Assisted Legal Research, Peggy Roebuck Jarrett, Nancy Mcmurrer, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Reasons to Use CALR
• Types of CALR
• Online Services: Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw
• CD ROM Products
• Bulletin Board Systems
• Internet

Fundamentals Of Legal Research In Washington, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction and General Research Texts
• Secondary Sources
• Statutes
• City and County Codes
• Administrative Regulations
• Case Law
• Case Finding Tools
• Attorney General Opinions
• Citator Services
• Citation Format
• Appendix: Office of Reporter Style Sheet

Legislative History And Bill Tracking, Peggy Roebuck Jarrett

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Researching Legislative History in Washington
• Legislative Bill Tracking

Administrative Decisions And Materials, Cheryl Rae Nyberg

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Administrative Agencies' Functions and Procedures
• Multi-Agency Sources of Administrative Decisions
• Agency-Specific Sources
• Agency Decisions at a Glance

Washington Practice Materials, Nancy Mcmurrer

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Encyclopedic Sources
• Deskbooks, Manuals, Treatises, and Self-Help Sources
• Continuing Legal Education Materials and CLEDEX
• Litigation Aids
• Ethics Opinions
• Directories
• Current Awareness

The Public Trust Doctrine And Coastal Zone Management In Washington State, Ralph W. Johnson, Craighton Goeppele, David Jansen, Rachael Paschal

Articles

The public trust doctrine is an ancient doctrine that has recently emerged as a powerful tool to protect the public interest in tidelands and shorelands. Created and developed by the judiciary, the doctrine's principles have found their way into several of Washington's regulatory statutes, such as the Shoreline Management Act and the Aquatic Lands Act. This Article traces the development of the doctrine in Washington, and explains the relation between the state's police power and the public trust doctrine. This Article also sets forth the current contours of the public trust doctrine in Washington, and charts potential future developments of …

Is Washington Ready For Merit Selection Of Judges, Hugh D. Spitzer, William S. Bailey

Articles

In 1980, Seattle established a judicial merit selection process for the Seattle Municipal Court, based on an approach used in many other jurisdictions and by the federal government under President Carter. The Seattle plan represents the first time a merit selection commission of lawyers and lay people has been used for nonfederal appointments in Washington. The two individuals subsequently appointed to the Seattle Municipal Court have gone through one of this state's most rigorous judicial selection processes.

In this article, we will review how judges are presently selected in this state, the various methods of choosing judges in other jurisdictions …

Early Efforts To Locate The Capital Of Washington Territory, Arthur S. Beardsley

Articles

Several political controversies began with the organization of the territorial government of Washington in 1854, grew in intensity with the passage of years, and did not end on the proclamation of statehood in 1889. Among such controversies was the fight for the location of the capital. In fact, contention over the location of the seat of territorial and state government did not cease until the completion of the capitol building in 1927. During the interval of seventy-three years many efforts were made to relocate the capital, and at some time in this period nearly every important city within the present …

Later Attempts To Relocate The Capital Of Washington, Arthur S. Beardsley

Articles

The controversy over the location of the seat of government, which had flared up frequently in Washington Territory during the period 1855-1875, was comparatively dormant in the following decade. With the coming of the railroads, the discovery of gold in the Fraser River country and Idaho, the use of irrigation in central Washington, the growth of the sheep and cattle business, the increase in commerce on the Columbia and Snake rivers, the development of the lumber and fishing industries west of the Cascade Range, the population of all sections of the territory rapidly increased, and Washington Territory was soon to …