Brian Carr
11301 NE 7th St, Apt J5
Vancouver, WA 98684
brian@brian.carr.name

American Civil Liberites Union
705 Second Ave, Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98104-1799

I am writing to seek your assistance (an Amicus Curiae memorandum) in a case which strikes to the very foundation of our government of law from which all our civil liberties spring.

In late 2004 my wife and I started divorce proceedings which became adversarial. To my surprise, my wife sought and received an Order for Protection under RCW 26.50 (Domestic Violence). Clark County courts had made several efforts to simplify and speed the processing of Domestic Violence cases (an admirable goal), but went too far in violating requirements of the Washington Constitution and statutes.

In particular, to avoid the restrictions of RCW 26.50.020 (5), the Superior Court had appointed all the District Court judges as Superior Court Commissioners. That would be fine except that Washington State Constitution, Article IV, Section 23 limits the appointment of such Commissioners in any given county to 'not exceeding three in number' and Clark County Superior Court appointed nine.

I was surprised that the Superior Court would place expediency over legality, but as I had been a soldier and officer in my youth, I can easily understand the temptation. I submitted an appeal to the Court of Appeals with a question of:

Can the Superior Court in any given county make more than three valid simultaneous appointments of Commissioners who aren't Family Court Commissioners? The trial court answered in the affirmative.

and submitted as evidence copies of Orders appointing four Commissioners who weren't Family Court / Law Commissioners. The response of the Court of Appeals was:

Carr argues that his due process rights and his right to have a judge adjudicate his case were violated because Clark County allegedly appointed more than three court commissioners. However, a family law commissioner is not a "commissioner" within the meaning of the constitutional provision limiting the number of court commissioners in counties.

The Court of Appeals simply ignored the question before it and answered a well understood question which is not relevant to the case at hand.

I am greatly concerned when the Court of Appeals chooses expediency over legality and simply ignores the transgressions of the Superior Court. As such I submitted a Petition for Review to the Washington Supreme Court (case 78768-9) which can be seen at http://brian.carr.name/Pt060602.html along with the Brief (with links to the record) and Opinion. Our government of law is dependent on the courts following the law and I ask that the A.C.L.U. submit an Amicus Curiae memorandum to the Washington Supreme Court expressing their opinion on placing expediency over legality, making it clear that this issue can not be just ignored.

Sincerely,

Brian Carr