The nine justices for the Washington State Supreme Court will be on Whidbey Island for two days for educational visits, a community Town Hall, and they’ll be hearing three live court cases.
The three live hearings will take place here at the Center on Thursday, May 11, at the following times:
1st case: 9:00 AM
2nd case: 10:00 AM
3rd case: 1:30 PM
More in depth information about each individual case are below.
There is planned time for Q&A about the hearings at 10:45 AM and 2:15 PM, unless the hearings go long.
Tickets are free, but should be reserved by calling the box office: 360-221-8268. Each case has it’s own ticketing- interested community members may reserve tickets for some or all of the cases.
Case No. 1: Snaza v. State, No. 101375-2
Whether RCW 10.116.030, which prohibits county law enforcement agencies from using tear gas in most riot situations without first receiving prior approval from the county’s highest elected official, violates article XI, section 5 of the Washington Constitution by delegating a core function of county sheriffs to other elected or appointed county officials.
No. 2: Eylander v. Prologis, No. 101176-8
Whether in this wrongful death action involving an employee of an independent contractor who fell through a skylight while performing work on a landowner’s premises, the landowner’s common law duty toward invitees to guard against known or obvious dangers on the premises is satisfied by exercising reasonable care in delegating that duty to the independent contractor.
No. 3. Portugal v. Franklin County, 100999-2
Whether the WVRA violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the privileges and immunities clause of the Washington Constitution cause it does not contain a compactness requirement, and therefore makes race a predominant factor, and because it confers a privilege upon a specific class without reasonable grounds. Whether the Washington Voting Rights Act (WVRA), which grants minority voters the right to compel redistricting to remedy vote dilution, was repealed by implication upon the reenactment of RCW 29A.76.010, which prohibits the use of population data for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring any racial group or political party.