Richard Sanders

From Judgepedia

Richard B. Sanders is a Justice on the Washington Supreme Court. Sanders was first elected to the Supreme Court by special election in 1995. In 1998 and in 2004 he was he was re-elected to serve six year terms each. His current term expires in 2010 and he is running for re-election. Justice Sanders is considered to be conservative.

Legal education

Sanders is a native of Tacoma and received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Washington. He thereafter earned his J.D. in 1969 from the University of Washington School of Law.^[1]

Legal experience

Justice Richard Sanders practiced for 26 years prior to reaching the Supreme Court of Washington. Justice Sanders believes the court must protect all the legal rights of all citizens. “We have no second class citizens,” he adds. His special interest is the Washington State Constitution and often quotes his favorite passage: “[G]overnments . . . are established to protect and maintain individual rights.” Const. art. I, § 1.

Awards and associations

Sanders has served as an adjunct professor teaching appellate advocacy at the UW School of Law; has written articles for professional journals; and has presented lectures to legal and civic organizations on diverse topics including civil liberties, land use, the Washington State Constitution, legal ethics, and Abraham Lincoln, among others. Justice Sanders enjoys inviting students and community groups to tour the Temple of Justice and to visit with him.

Mukasey "tyrant" incident

On November 20, 2008, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey gave a speech at the annual Federalist Society gathering in Washington, D.C. Mukasey collapsed during the speech. Just before Mukasey's collapse, Sanders stood up and yelled at him, "Tyrant. You are a tyrant." Justice Sanders confirmed this to online journalist Malkin, "The program provided no opportunity for questions or response, and I felt compelled to speak out. I stood up, and said, 'tyrant,' and then left the meeting. No one else said anything. I believe we must speak our conscience in moments that demand it, even if we are but one voice."^[2],^[3],^[4],^[5] According to the Seattle Times, Justice Sanders' reason for doing so was "Mukasey's defense of the Bush Administration's counter-terrorism policies, particularly with respect to detainment policies and Geneva Convention interpretations, that solicited the outburst."^[6][7]

Election campaigns

2010

Main article: Washington judicial elections, 2010

Sanders is running for re-election to the court in 2010. He is being challenged by Charlie Wiggins, ^[8] who says he chose Sanders to challenge because he fails to uphold ethical standards and too frequently sides with criminal defendants. ^[9][10][11]

2004

In his 2004 campaign, the Sanders campaign raised $190,559. The top three sectors in terms of who donated to his campaign were "Lawyers and Lobbyists" with $39,915 raised, General Contractors, with $23,300 raised, and "Home Builders", with $16,190.^[12]

1998: Controversy

An hour after taking his oath of office at the Temple of Justice, Sanders spoke to some pro-life protestors: "I want to give all of you my best wishes in this celebration of human life. Nothing is, nor should be, more fundamental in our legal system than the preservation and protection of innocent human life. By coincidence, or perhaps by providence, my formal induction to the Washington State Supreme Court occurred about an hour ago. I owe my election to many of the people who are here today and I’m here to say thank you very much and good luck. Our mutual pursuit of justice requires a lifetime of dedication and courage. Keep up the good work." The judicial commission sanctioned Justice Sanders for violating ethics rules against political activity, but the Washington Court of Appeals reversed the sanctions in 1998 ruling in favor of the First Amendment. Two-thirds of voters approved his re-election in November 1998.

Notable decisions

Same-sex marriage

In July 2006, the Washington Supreme Court determined in a 5 to 4 decision to uphold the state's Defense of Marriage Act.^[13] Six different opinions were issued in the case, and some stated that the legislature could extend the right of marriage to gay and lesbian couples. The Washington Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the state’s 1998 Defense of Marriage Act became even more socially significant when Judge Barbara Madsen, publicly questioned the proof for homosexuality as an immutable trait. "Laws challenged on the basis of race or sex discrimination are generally subjected to more searching review," stated Justice Madsen.^[14] There is, wrote Justice James Johnson, joined by Justice Richard Sanders, "a compelling governmental interest in preserving the institution of marriage." The four dissenting justices, in three opinions, sharply attacked the majority. "The plurality and concurrence condone blatant discrimination against Washington’s gay and lesbian citizens," according to Mary Fairhurst, who added that the 1998 law "was motivated solely by animus toward homosexuals."^[15]

Public disclosure

• On May 13, 2004, the Washington Supreme Court ruled in a 5 to 4 decision that the attorney-client privilege is greater than the Washington Public Disclosure Act. Chief Justice Gerry Alexander wrote for the majority that the legislature "created the exemption when it amended the disclosure law, which makes most government documents available to the public, in 1987."^[16] Justice Johnson wrote in the dissent that the decision "renders ineffectual the (law's) strong mandate to agencies that they must disclose public information," and that the law applies to lawyers, not governmental agencies. His dissent was signed by Justices Barbara Madsen, Richard Sanders and Tom Chambers.^[17]

• Sanders wrote the majority opinion in the January 15, 2009 ruling, Yousoufian v. Office of the King County Executive (2004), which held that a lower court had not assessed a high enough fine on King County for what the high court said was the county's "blatant" and "egregious" violations of Washington's sunshine laws. On April 1, 2009, King County asked the court to re-hear the case. The county alleged that Sanders was prejudiced in his opinion about the case because at the same time he wrote the ruling, Sanders had a public-records lawsuit pending in Thurston County. King County Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Wright said, "A justice may not define the scope of rights under state law while simultaneously seeking to personally benefit from that law in other litigation."^[18] Sanders denies wrongdoing. He consulted with the court's ethics attorney before hearing Yousoufian. Sanders also says that he will not financially benefit from any additional fines imposed in the Thurston case, so that he does not have a financial conflict-of-interest. Seattle lawyer Thomas Fitzpatrick, a member of a committee that reviews the canons of the state's Code of Judicial Conduct, said Sanders does not have the type of financial interest in the Yousofian case that would have constrained him for hearing it. "He's not a party or related to a party in the case. To me, this is the kind of situation where [a judge] may want to think long and hard about it. But I don't think it's a violation of the canons."^[18]

Intoxication and liability

In 2004, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that a tavern owner can be held liable for a vehicle accident by a tavern patron, "even though the plaintiff proved only that the customer was 'apparently,' not 'obviously,' intoxicated." Susan Owens wrote for the majority, "Given the distinction that the average person could be expected to draw between the phrases 'apparently intoxicated' and 'obviously intoxicated,' the Lucky Seven Saloon recognized that the latter standard was more favorable, permitting the commercial seller to serve patrons until they were 'obviously drunk,' not merely 'apparently drunk.'" In Sanders' dissent, he argued that this standard is beyond the previous standard: "The majority goes where no court has gone before."^[19]

External links

• Reelect Richard Sanders, campaign website
• Sanders' personal website
• Washington Courts: Richard Sanders
• Follow the Money: Richard Sanders 2004
• Supreme Court candidate Doesn't want bar rating
• Richard Sanders on Vote Smart
• The Washington Supreme Court blog, an unofficial blog that covers the Washington State Supreme Court and its justices

References

v • d • e Washington Supreme Court Current Chief: Madsen • Alexander • Chambers • Fairshurst • Johnson • Johnson • Owens • Sanders • Stephens