H-1057.1  _______________________________________________

                     HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 4004

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1997 Regular Session

By Representatives Bush, Sheahan, Sheldon, Carrell, Cairnes, Talcott, McDonald, Boldt, Mulliken, McMorris, Smith, Lambert, Wensman, Pennington, Koster, Backlund, Cooke, Johnson, Mielke, Delvin, Robertson and Thompson

Read first time 01/23/97. 

Petitioning the Washington Supreme Court to rewrite Canon Seven of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

    TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICES OF THE WASHINGTON STATE SUPREME COURT:

    We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

    WHEREAS, All people of the State of Washington, including judicial candidates and judicial officers at all levels, have a fundamental right to free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 5 of the State Constitution; and

    WHEREAS, All people of the State of Washington, including judicial candidates and judicial officers, have the right to freedom of religion and conscience as protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 11 of the State Constitution; and

    WHEREAS, All people of the State of Washington, including judicial candidates and judicial officers at all levels, have a right to be free from invidious viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 11 of the State Constitution; and

    WHEREAS, All people of the State of Washington, including judicial candidates and judicial officers at all levels, have a right to be free from arbitrary and capricious governmental action which would deprive them of the right to life, liberty, or property without due process of law, as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 3 of the State Constitution; and

    WHEREAS, All people of the State of Washington, including judicial candidates and judicial officers at all levels, have a moral right to receive fair and equal treatment under the law, regardless of their beliefs or the positions that they advocate; and

    WHEREAS, Free elections require that the electorate must have adequate information to vote intelligently; and

    WHEREAS, The Legislature finds many of the voters of this state are frustrated by the restrictions currently placed upon the speech of judicial candidates and judicial officers; and

    WHEREAS, The current provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct which hinder judicial candidates and judicial officers from speaking are detrimental to our state's system of electing judges by vote of the people;

    NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Canon Seven of the Code of Judicial Conduct, and any other pertinent provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct, be rewritten to make clear that all judicial candidates and judicial officers may speak freely, and without fear of governmental retaliation, on issues that are not then before the court.

    BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to each Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Washington.

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