The state’s highest court is coming to the North Olympic Peninsula today and Tuesday and will hear two cases as part of its effort to bring the law closer to the public.
The state Supreme Court, which normally convenes in Olympia, will hear arguments for two real cases while visiting Peninsula College in Port Angeles.
The nine justices will also hold public forums, eat lunch with students and speak to classes about legal careers and the Constitution — all at the Port Angeles campus, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Among the justices is Susan Owens, who was the longtime West End District Court judge based in Forks and Clallam County’s senior jurist before she was elected to the high court in 2000.
The other justices to visit are Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, Charles W. Johnson, Barbara A. Madsen, Richard B. Sanders, Tom Chambers, Mary Fairhurst, James M. Johnson and Debra Stephens.
“The court enjoys visiting our state’s local colleges,” Alexander said in a written statement.
“In addition to the students, we encourage anyone interested in learning more about the judicial branch of government to see the workings of the highest court up close and personal.”
Free forums
The justices will have lunch with students and then hold open forums
The forums, which run from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. and are open to the public, will include:
•SEnSIn the Science and Technology Building lecture hall, Room M-125, Alexander, Sanders and Fairhurst will address “Journalism, History and the Law.”
•SEnSIn the Student Services Building, Room D-215, Madsen and Stephens will discuss “Diversity and the Law.”
•SEnSAnd in the Pirate Union Building conference room J-47, Chambers, Owens and Johnson will address “Preserving Rights — Controversial Topics and the Role of the Court.”
The court will have a private reception with the local bar association and dinner with the Peninsula College Foundation tonight.
The justices will begin hearing the two actual cases at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Both cases will be heard in the Little Theater on the Port Angeles campus. Overflow seating will be available in the Science and Technology Lecture Hall, M-125.
A lunch break will again allow the justices to eat with students at the college.
The cases are:
•SEnSState of Washington v. Clarence Andrew Kintz. The case will determine whether a defendant is committing the crime of stalking when following another person if there are multiple encounters over a short span of time.
• State of Washington v. Anthony Jay Erickson, to be heard at 1:30 p.m., will determine whether a bench warrant issued by a municipal court for failure to appear at a probation violation hearing must be supported by probable cause.
The court was previously set to hear a third case, but the appeal on Quinault Indian Nation, et.al. v. Sea Crest Land Development Co., et.al. was withdrawn.
Rulings and opinions on cases are typically written about three to six months after the oral arguments.
The court has been hearing cases at different locations throughout the state three times a year for more than a decade.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
