Results tagged “washingtonstatesupremecourt”

So far so good, but because there isn't money in the general fund for the refunds, the refund notice included news of a temporary rate increase for SPU customers equal to 10.2 percent (about $59--that extra $14 may be going to cover the $4.2 million in court fees the suit racked up). Only in Seattle can news that we’ve all been bilked for cash be accompanied by news that the bilk goes on.

The Washington State Supreme Court issued a rare unanimous ruling this morning in a case against the King County Medical Examiner's office. The court ruled that the M.E.'s office was in the wrong when they sold a deceased 21-year-old's brain to a Maryland company. While the 21-year-old was an organ donor, his next of kin was not notified parts of his body would be sold for profit to private researchers. Also, and excuse us if we are wrong, but our assumption about checking the donor box was that our organs would go to a living individual, not a corporation. Shame on the King County M.E. for adding to a family's tragedy and profiting off it.

The Washington State Department of Corrections wants local companies to know that the prisons are open for business. The DOC has contacted local Chambers of Commerce to say that the real way to cut costs is to use workers who have no right or say in what they do...prisoners are the perfect captive workers! While inmate labor had been previously shut down by the State Supreme Court, Washington voters opted to re-open prisons to private companies for business last November. We're wondering: when did liberal Washington decide that slavery needed a new and improved modern counterpart?

The state Supreme Court unanimously overturned a 30 year-old precedent which allowed Washington State Police to arrest an entire car-load of people if the officer even smelled marijuana. Now, if a police officer pulls you over and approaches you because they smell chronic, they have the right to search your car for proof of the drugs. But, they can no longer just arrest you based on a cop's sensitive sniffer. Considering the continued aggression the SPD and WSP have shown towards marijuana users—even to those who have a pot prescription for medicine—this ruling is a bright spot in dark times.

The Washington State Supreme Court ruled yesterday with a 6-3 decision that stalking via a third party is a crime. With the ruling, the Court reinstated the conviction of a man who had friends follow his ex-girlfriend and report back to him. Andre Becklin's stalking conviction had been overturned in the Court of Appeals, but the Supreme Court ruled that using other people to intimidate or follow someone is, in the eyes of the law, the same as if you'd done the stalking yourself.