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10/28/2008
Update: Latest Chapter in Lawsuit.
Precisely one week before the Final Date of the 2008 General Election, at about 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 28, 2008, I could have read, if I’d been up that early, the following headline on Page C2 of The Columbian, “Rossi deposition ordered before Nov. 4.”
Voters and readers around the state were reading similar headlines.
Again, this Associated Press article by Gene Johnson, would describe the individual plaintiffs bringing this class action suit on the behalf of the people of Washington State, as “two former Supreme Court justices, Faith Ireland [3] and Robert Utter, who are supporting Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire’s re-election bid”.
Readers throughout the state would learn that on Monday, Oct 27, the prior day, King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas had granted Early Discovery to Ireland and Utter, ordering that Nonparty Gubernatorial Candidate Dino Rossi would have to give his deposition before Election Day, Nov 4th, and that a deposition was scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008.
According to the written notes on the signed order, Judge Kallas believed that:
“ ‘Early discovery allows the parties to confirm — or dispel — the allegations before the election.’ ”
In The Seattle Times Oct 28th version of the story, Matt Barreto, a University of Washington political-science professor, speculated that the judge’s decision might or might not be a “game-changer” for the 2008 Rossi-Gregoire Governor’s Race, and actually might turn out to be a way for Rossi to mobilize his base and “spur increased turnout among conservatives.”
Wednesday, 10/29/2008
Finally, back to . . .
The Case of the fascinating Judge Faith Ireland and the peculiar PDC v WEA decision, with supporting cast members, Chris Gregoire, the BIAW, and Dino Rossi
The Fascinating Judge Ireland. Faith Ireland is a dynamic and vibrant person. She has provided interesting copy to many journalists in the state of Washington, and most particularly in Seattle. Its doubtful that a one-term WA state Supreme Court Justice has ever been in the public eye as much as Ireland. Her life story and personality overarches her legal career, her many years on the King County Superior Court level, her one term as Supreme Court Justice, and ANY legal opinion she would ever sign on to or write herself. Maybe this is why Ireland, the Supreme Court Justice’s authorship of the PDC v. WEA (Davenport) Majority Opinion, never seemed to get connected to Faith Ireland, the person.
The Female Advantage. Faith Ireland came to the court when just being a female was a major asset. Article after article would talk about how many females there were on the WA state Supreme Court bench. The number shot up to four, and then five, making it the majority sex on the court, and then four again. This occurred during Christine Gregoire’s long 12-year tenure as WA state Attorney General.
The Dynamic Power Lifter. Following a bad car accident which left her with back pain that could not be coped with by drugs along, Faith Ireland decided to take up weight lifting as a hobby. The unusual hobby for a petite, dynamic lady judge, who would not give into pain, and the many photo opportunities for her sports meets, provided wonderful lighter copy for the newspapers of the state.
The Mother Who Gave Up Her Child. It is hard not to get emotional when you listen to Denny Heck’s interview of Faith Ireland, when, she related, for the first time publicly, how, finding herself unwed and pregnant, during the 1960s, while she was in college, she decided to have the baby (rather than have an illegal abortion) and give the baby girl up for adoption. The show was made that much more emotionally moving by the fact that Denny Heck was the father of two adopted children, and thanked Ireland on the show for her and other women’s sacrifice in giving up their birth children, making it possible for people like him and his wife to have children they would otherwise never been able to have .
Sensible Yet Sensitive Judge. Up until the 2006 WA Supreme Court races, there was not as much end-of-term scrutiny given to an incumbent justice’s case record. By then, Faith Ireland would be gone. Her one term was up in January 2005. She had decided not to run for a second term in early 2004. So her case work as a whole, less the PDC v. WEA Majority Opinion, would not be publicly scrutinized during the judicial elections of 2004.
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Washington State-Wide Races: The Governor’s Race Page 4 |
