WHO WANTS TO BUY THE STATE SUPREME COURT?

by John Merriam

Some say that the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) already bought one seat on the bench of the state Supreme Court in 2004, and that now they want two or three more in 2006.

As in most states, justices for the Washington Supreme Court-unlike for the US Supreme Court-are elected. Federal court judges are appointed. A justice on the state Supreme Court retired in 2004, leaving an open seat. According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, the BIAW donated over $200,000 to candidate James Johnson. That set a record for contributions and was much more than the total from all sources to any other candidate for the Court.

Johnson's opponent, state Court of Appeals Judge Mar' Kay Becker, received many endorsements from well-respected figures in the legal community, but, compared to her opponent's war chest, precious little money. Johnson won the election and now sits on our state's Supreme Court.

Perhaps in reaction, the Washington Legislature imposed donation limits on judicial elections for the first time this year. Effective in June, no individual or corporation may donate more than $1400 to a single judicial candidate per election cycle. However, the limit applies only to direct contributions. It does not restrict funding to PACs (political action committees), which launch attack advertising and undertake other efforts to swing an election its way.

Enter Constitutional Law PAC, chaired by former Republican Senator Slade Gorton. Board members include Republican stalwarts such as Dale Foreman and Ken Eikenberry. Con Law PAC is supported by the BIAW, the Christian Coalition and other conservative groups. It is targeting the three justices up for re-election this year: Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, and Justices Susan Owens and Tom Chambers. Alexander is opposed by John Groen, a lawyer backed by the BIAW and who has been heavily involved in property rights litigation. Owens is opposed by state Senator Steve Johnson, a lawyer, who is a darling of the Christian Coalition and the Washington Conservative Union. At this writing no candidate has surfaced to challenge Chambers. (The deadline for filing is at the end of July.)

And then came FairPAC, an opposing political action committee recently formed in reaction to the Con Law PAC. FairPAC is supported by organizations such as the Washington State Labor Council, NARAL (abortion rights), Washington Conservation Voters, and the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association (WSTLA). (It is noted, in candor, that the author is a member of WSTLA but has yet to contribute to FairPAC or to any candidate.) Its stated goal is to retain impartiality in this state's judicial system. Given the amount of money at the disposal of Con Law PAC, achieving that goal may prove a challenge.

The BIAW and Con Law Pac are taking aim at the incumbent justices on the Supreme Court, two of whom-the two presently facing challengers-are by no means favorites of the liberal left. The BIAW apparently believes that the incumbents are not sufficiently supportive of property rights when it comes to land-use regulation and not willing to allow the paving of wetlands to build condominiums. They are banking on name familiarity, through lots of advertising money, to influence voters to put judges on the Supreme Court who will support their goals.

A discussion of whether judicial elections are a good idea to begin with is beyond the scope of this article. If the reader plans to vote in judicial races, this lawyer requests that you educate yourself on whom you are voting for. Otherwise, please don't vote.

John Merriam is a former merchant seaman now practicing law at Fishermen's Terminal in Seattle, representing fishermen and other types of seamen on wage and injury claims.