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Washington State-Wide Races: The Governor’s Race
The Case of the Fascinating Judge & the Peculiar Case, et al Page 5 |
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(continued from prior page)
Under the powers given the governor, Ireland would be permitted extra time on the bench, by the new Governor-elect, (?) solely to wrap up those cases she had heard, but on which the court had not yet ruled. [This is how, even though her one six-year term, to which she had been elected in 1998, Faith Ireland could appear as the Majority Author for the Majority Opinion in PDC v. WEA, et al, issued in 2006.]
During the course of her term, research has not indicated any opinion Faith Ireland authored for which she was singled out and criticized by the press. Though there would be the occasional criminal appeals case that would upset the public, Ireland was never singled out for any public scrutiny or disapproval.
Justice Faith Ireland could end her one-term career on the WA State Supreme Court, looking like a sensible, no nonsense judge, but yet one sensitive to the needs of the tolerant society that Washington State felt itself to be or felt it needed to become.
The Peculiar Case of PDC v WEA— from State to US Supreme Court and, then, final oblivion.
Timing is everything. When the Public Disclosure Commission v Washington Education Association, et al [PDC v WEA] decision was finally issued by the WA State Supreme Court on March 16, 2006. Oral argument had been held on May 27, 2004. It had taken almost two years for this case to be decided. The 6-3 decision attracted the media’s due attention, and was greatly criticized in at least some newspapers. Perhaps due to the fact that Ireland was now just a justice pro tempore, she did not seem to get any special attention, herself. It would be the Dissenting Opinion by Justice Richard Sanders that would receive more attention, its language being more quotable, its reasoning more straight-forward. See, e.g., Hovde [4] .
Moreover, the 2006 Judicial Elections would soon eclipse PDC v WEA. The public’s attention would be drawn to far more dramatic WA state Supreme Court cases such as those dealing with property rights (following on the heels of the US Supreme Court’s Kelo decision), gay marriage, public disclosure, referendum & initiative, and criminal law.
Nor could it be appreciated by most of the public just how the open nature of the very late ruling in PDC v WEA would preclude any comment on it during the Judicial Debates of 2006. A petition for rehearing before the State Supreme Court and a Petition for Cert to the US Supreme Court were both possible. Under either scenario, the case could still be reheard by the WA State Supreme Court. Hence, this specific case could NOT be debated or commented upon by any of the WA Supreme Court candidates — legal ethics silenced them all.
Unions v Nonmember Teachers. PDC v WEA originated in the efforts of the state of Washington to enforce a 1992 Initiative, which had been passed by 72 percent of the voters, and dealt with the rights of those teachers, who had chosen not to become members of the teachers’ union, regarding that portion of their “agency shop fees” that was used for the union’s political activities.
These nonmembers would still have the lion’s share of their “agency shop fees” (“dues” for nonmembers) taken out for collective bargaining purposes. But the 1992 Initiative required the unions to first receive affirmative notice and permission from these nonmembers before taking out that portion that went toward political expenditures. This is called an Opt In rather than the Opt Out procedure that had been used by the teachers’ unions, before.
The primary defense of the teachers’ union was that the 1992 Initiative violated their US Constitutional First Amendment Right to Association. Simply put, the 6-3 Majority Opinion by Faith Ireland, bought this argument, ruling the Initiative unconstitutional. The Majority Opinion was also signed by Barbara A. Madsen, Bobbe J. Bridge, Charles W. Johnson, Susan Owens, and Tom Chambers. Richard Sanders’ Dissent was also signed by Gerry Alexander and Mary Fairhurst.
The 2006 Judicial Elections. As mentioned above on This Page, PDC v WEA could not be discussed while appeals were still possible or pending. The state Atty. General Rob McKenna decided to forgo a request for rehearing at the state level, and directly petitioned for cert to the US Supreme Court. As previously mentioned in Old Enemies & Old Judicial Politics , the BIAW, Gov. Chris Gregoire, and Faith Ireland all became active participants in the heated judicial campaigning.
Unanimous Reversal by the US Supreme Court. Perhaps precisely because PDC v WEA was overruled unanimously, 9-0, by the US Supreme Court, in Davenport, that both the case, and Ireland’s author-ship, were so quickly forgotten. It is the 5-4 rulings which typically get the most national attention.
WA State Legislature & Governor respond to Davenport. At least the future impact of Davenport and the original 1992 Initiative was greatly nullified by the Democratically-controlled legislature’s passage and Gov. Gregoire’s signing of legislation which reformed the accounting laws which govern the handling of teachers’ union dues and nonmembers’ agency shop fees. Again, many newspapers noted this action, and many disapproved. But apparently during the 2008 Governor Elections, this matter seemed totally or greatly forgotten.
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