TVW Air ScheduleLt. Gov. Brad Owen just ruled that Sen. Don Benton is right — the $3 municipal court fee to pay for publicly funded Supreme Court races does not constitute a solid enough nexus. Therefore, passing the bill to publicly fund Supreme Court races will take a two-thirds vote.
Tags: supreme court
The House State Government and Senate Government Operations committees each held a hearing today on a bill to publicly fund Supreme Court races.
Why? In 2006, $4.3 million was spent on three Supreme Court seats in Washington, according to John King, policy chair of Washington Public Campaign. He told the House that money comes from big spenders with equally big agendas — and that means more moderate candidates will be edged out. “This bill aims to counter any movement toward bankable votes,” he said — candidates would have to get a certain number of signatures to get on the ballot.
And Katy Sheehan with the League of Women Voters told the House that public funding for Supreme Court campaigns would work toward combating corruption and promote citizen interaction. “The recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion will likely aggravate the trend” of spending on campaigns. She said the bill is effective because it only gives money to candidates who have shown — through signature gathering — that they have broad public support.
Here’s a discussion on the very topic, featuring former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Gerry Alexander, former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton and more:
Tags: public funding, supreme court
Here’s a handy run-down of what happened today:
- Chief economic forecaster Arun Raha said revenue collections for the past two months are actually higher than he forecast in November. Yet …
- A comprehensive review showed the state’s economic climate hasn’t improved relative to other states.
- The state could save around $10 million by streamlining information services for five agencies and potentially $277 million for privatizing liquor stores.
- House Speaker Frank Chopp said the state needs to create a moral budget without cutting the most vulnerable and Rep. Richard DeBolt said the state needs to encourage business development, which will finance a healthy future.
- The Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee discussed banning BPA.
- Chief Justice Barbara Madsen was sworn in.
Want more? Watch Legislative Review at 11 o’clock tonight or 7:45 tomorrow morning.
Tags: Legislature, supreme court
Chief Justice Barbara Madsen and former Chief Justice Gerry Alexander just switched chairs, meaning: It’s official.
She said the experience was overwhelming before turning to Alexander so he could speak a few words. Alexander said he was surprised when he took the office that he didn’t get a gavel. So he presented Madsen with an engraved gavel.
“It’s not just some cheesy piece of wood I found in the back yard and had carved up,” he said. “This item was carved from the wood of a Big Leaf Maple tree” he said. The tree was 8 feet in diameter and stood near the Governor’s mansion. The stump can be seen today. “It is believed this tree predated the 1909 construction of the mansion. I want you to know I got this piece of wood legitimately … I didn’t steal it!”
Madsen then spoke. “It’s going to be difficult not calling you Chief,” she said. “When I thought about this ceremony, it seemed like an appropriate time to share my vision for the Judiciary,” she said. “As a public defender, I learned that there is some good in every person,” she said, adding that she also learned about diversity.
Tune into TVW now for the live ceremony.
Tags: gavel, Madsen, supreme court
The swearing-in of Barbara Madsen as the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court is live on TVW now.
Gov. Chris Gregoire just spoke. She said if you don’t know much about Madsen, you can find her on Wikipedia. And we learned that Gregoire and Madsen were classmates at Gonzaga.
A few minutes ago, outgoing Chief Justice Gerry Alexander took the podium. As he scanned the crowd for elected officials to introduce, he focused on Secretary of State Sam Reed. He said Reed was at the movies last night with his wife — and he knew that because he and his wife sat near them. FYI: Alexander and Reed aren’t huge fans of the film “Nine,” but their wives enjoyed the film.
Tune in now or you’ll miss out!
Tags: supreme court
Today, the Washington State Supreme Court selected Barbara Madsen as the Chief Justice-elect, according to the office of Chief Justice Gerry Alexander. She’ll be sworn in by Chief Justice Alexander, who is retiring, on Jan. 11, 2010.
Madsen was the third woman in history to be elected to the state Supreme Court. She lives in Fircrest with her husband and four children, and volunteers in Pierce County schools, according to her Supreme Court bio.
Madsen is serving her third term.
Tags: supreme court
In October, Chief Justice Gerry Alexander announced that he’d be retiring his post in Jan. 2010, and retire from the bench at the end of 2011. On Oct. 30, I went to his office at the Temple of Justice to interview him about his time on the court, his most memorable moments, and exactly what he plans to do after leaving the Supreme Court, where he has served as the Chief Justice longer than anyone in state history. Enjoy the interview!
Q: As you prepare to retire from the Supreme Court, can you share some high points of your career?
Alexander: I’m in my 15th year. I started in Jan. 1995, so when I leave as Chief Justice in Jan. 2010 I’ll have been on the court 15 years – nine of those I’ll have been chief justice. I started my judicial career in 1973. Being chief justice has been a great honor and a privilege for me. It’s sort of the capstone of my judicial career.
It’s been a really dream career for me. I’ve just never regretted for one moment having entered the judiciary in 1973. I can’t think of a career that would have suited me better.
Q: Was it your goal to be on the Supreme Court?
Alexander: Not really. People ask me when I decided to be a lawyer — you have to be a lawyer first to be a judge. I went to high school just across the street. When they would ask you what I wanted to be, I used to say lawyer. It wasn’t really until I was in the Army – I went to the Army for three years — it was then that I decided what I wanted to do. When I became a lawyer in 1964, I can’t say that I said I really want to be a judge one day. When the opportunity arose, I put my name in for an opening and Gov. Evans appointed me.
I have to say, at 80-something, he looks like a million bucks. I always thank him, every time I see him. I’m the last judge of all the judges in the state of Washington appointed by Gov. Evans. He appointed me and that started my judicial career — I’m the last of the Evans appointees.
Q: What are some high points of your judicial career?
Alexander: There’s no one incident or case or moment that I could say was the high point. It’s really been the whole career. I just thank my lucky stars that I’m able to be on the highest court in the state, living in my hometown that I was raised in, in this wonderful old building – the Temple of Justice, home of the court since 1913. It’s a great building. (The high point is) just the whole time on the court.
Q: Looking back, are there any decisions you would want to revisit?
Alexander: I don’t mean to sound calloused, but I learned early on as a judge that you work hard and try to do all that you need to do in order to make a decision, and then you don’t lament about it later. That isn’t to say there have been instances where I have change my mind – or granted a Motion for Reconsideration when we’ve determined that we’ve made an error.
I think a judge should always be willing to reexamine their decision. But I don’t agonize over the decisions once they’re made. Of all the cases I’ve had that have had the most public interest and we’re under the crucible the most is the Defense of Marriage Act. If you can judge by the crowds that showed up, that’s one indicator. And the amount of coverage there was in the press about it and the mail we received. We have to be really carefully — we’re not supposed to have ex parte conversations. I had an ex parte file. We divided it into pro and con – the file folders were about the same thickness. Just judging the community interest in the case, that probably had the most of all the cases.
The other most commented on were the two cases we had in the run-up of the first election of Dino Rossi vs. Gov. Gregoire. We had to act quickly because people had to know who the governor was going to be on the day we swore them in. We had two decisions to make. I was really proud of the court that we heard those swiftly and that we issued the decisions promptly: It was right around Christmas time and the holiday season and you’re trying to get this decided. One, we issued a written opinion the same day as oral argument, and another one was the next day. That’s pretty fast to have the full court sign the opinion.
(more…)
Today is the first day of the WA State Supreme Court’s fall docket, with oral arguments scheduled on four separate cases — at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The arguments will be televised LIVE on TVW. Or you can watch them LIVE online at tvw.org.
The court’s fall docket continues on some, not all, Tuesdays and Thursdays through November. This Thursday TVW will carry LIVE cases at the same a.m. and p.m. times, though the 10 a.m. Thursday argument won’t be LIVE on TV — rather we’ll be LIVE with the quarterly state revenue forecast.
Tags: supreme court
Here’s a state Supreme Court case involving whether public libraries can restrict what patrons are viewing on library computers.
Joe Turner has a post about it here.
Tags: supreme court
This week, there’s quite a bit going on that you may want to know about. Here’s what TVW will be covering:
- This morning, we covered the Health Care Authority announcement on the Basic Health Plan. We’ll air that at 6 p.m.
- Also today, we’re covering the annual Washington High School Musical Theatre Awards at the Seattle 5th Ave. Theatre. We’re webcasting it live, and televising it Tuesday at 7 p.m.
- Tuesday we’ll be live with the Supreme Court at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Notable: Michael Morgan v. City of Federal Way and the Tacoma News Tribune Tuesday at 2:30.
- Wednesday we’re live with the state Board of Health from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. – one item on the afternoon agenda is further discussion of the school health rule. (Details to come.)
- Wednesday on The Impact, Jennifer Huntley will interview HCA administrator Steve Hill on the increased Basic Health Plan premiums. Don’t miss The Impact at 7 and 10 p.m.
- Thursday we’re back at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. with more live Supreme Court action. This time, oral arguments will feature Federal Way School District et al v. State of WA/Gov. Gregoire/Brad Owen/Terry Bergeson/Frank Chopp et al. That’s at 10 a.m. Don’t miss it!
- Thursday at 7 and 10 p.m. on Inside Olympia, Austin Jenkins will interview Ryan Crocker, Spokane Native, Whitman grad, and former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, and Kuwait.
- Also on Thursday, the Clemency and Pardons Board meets, we’ll tape it and air in its entirety Friday.
Throughout the week we’re televising events taped last week, including Transportation Commission’s tolling workshop, Board of Natural Resources, WA Policy Center’s health conference, Washington Research Council’s panel discussion on the economy with Dave Ross, and the Washington Economic Development Association’s “Focusing on the Future” Conference. Check here for times (or watch them all now online!).
Tags: clemency and pardons, health care, supreme court, TVW
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