PORT ANGELES — State Supreme Court Justice Charlie Wiggins expounded on the theme of this year’s Law Day — “No Courts, No Justice, No Freedom” — by highlighting the legal and political battles surrounding the Japanese internment camps during World War II.
“Eventually, 111,999 Japanese-Americans were interned for most of the war,” Wiggins said in a Friday luncheon hosted by the Clallam County Bar Association and Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono lawyers at the North Olympic Skills Center.
“I think on this Law Day, we might ask the question: ‘How could this happen?’”
Wiggins, who lives on Bainbridge Island, was elected to a six-year term on the state Supreme Court in 2010.
He is a member of the Supreme Court Administrative Committee, Rules Committee and Temple of Justice Centennial Committee, and serves as a liaison to the Judicial Information Systems Committee.
Wiggins was the keynote speaker for Law Day, which provides an opportunity to reflect on the role that courts and the judiciary play in the community.
“The question arises, before this [Japanese internment] happened: ‘Where were the lawyers?’” Wiggins said.
“Why weren’t there any lawyers looking at this and saying, ‘Wait a minute. We can’t do this’?”
Wiggins urged a group of about 30 Clallam County attorneys at the luncheon to “educate yourself” about the candidates for state Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the Clallam County Superior Court.
“It’s pretty important that we take an active role in that,” he said.
Among those in the audience was King County Superior Court Judge Bruce Hilyer, who is running for a seat on the state high court.
Hilyer recalled a monthlong trial he won in Clallam County Superior Court in 1996 and a stay at Olympic Medical Center after he was rear-ended by a truck on U.S. Highway 101.
“I will report that I thought I was very well-treated in both the courthouse and the hospital in Port Angeles,” he said.
Hilyer is running against Richard Sanders, Sheryl Gordon McCloud and John Ladenburg in the nonpartisan contest.
Wiggins defeated Sanders in a close race two years ago.
“I’m the one who’s an experienced trial court judge, and I’m the one who I think best understands what the bar and the judiciary needs,” Hilyer said.
Four local candidates — Curtis Johnson, Christopher Melly, William Payne and Erik Rohrer — are running for the seat being vacated by retiring Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams.
All four candidates attended the Law Day luncheon.
Current Clallam County Superior Court Judges George L. Wood and S. Brooke Taylor are running unopposed in the November election.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
