Eugster v. State

171 Wash. 2d 839
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJune 16, 2011
DocketNo. 84380-5
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 171 Wash. 2d 839 (Eugster v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eugster v. State, 171 Wash. 2d 839 (Wash. 2011).

Opinion

Fairhurst, J.

¶1 Stephen K. Eugster, pro se, argues that Washington’s process of electing Court of Appeals judges and assigning cases to three-judge panels violates article I, section 19 of the Washington State Constitution, which provides that “[a] 11 Elections shall be free and equal.” We affirm the trial court’s decision to dismiss Eugster’s case for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

I. FACTUAL HISTORY

¶2 The Washington State Court of Appeals was created by a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1968. Laws of 1969, State Measures, Amend. 50, at 2975 (codified as Const. art. IV, § 30). The amendment provided in part that “[t]he number, manner of election, compensation, terms of office, removal and retirement of judges of the court of appeals shall be as provided by statute.” Const. art. IV, § 30(4). Pursuant to this provision, chapter 2.06 RCW established a single Court of Appeals with three divisions. RCW 2.06.010, .020. Each division is divided into three districts made up of one or more counties, and each of these districts elects a set number of judges to the Court of Appeals. RCW 2.06.020.1 According to Eugster, the popula[842]*842tion per judge in the various districts ranges from 201,750 to 467,500.

¶3 The Court of Appeals judges hear cases in three-judge panels. RCW 2.06.040. The precise procedure for assigning judges and cases to these panels varies among the divisions, but each division’s process emphasizes equitably sharing workload and randomly assigning cases so that no particular litigant’s or judge’s interest is favored.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶4 Eugster filed a complaint in Thurston County Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment that Washington’s Court of Appeals violates the Washington State Constitution. He named as defendants the State of Washington, the Washington Court of Appeals and its divisions, and the individual judges of the Court of Appeals. Eugster also moved for partial summary judgment on the issue of whether article I, section 19 of the Washington Constitution applies to the election of Court of Appeals judges. The defendants countered by moving to dismiss under CR 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and moving to dismiss the individually named judges as defendants.

¶5 The superior court denied Eugster’s summary judgment motion and granted both of the defendants’ motions. Eugster moved for our direct review, challenging only the denial of his summary judgment motion and grant of the [843]*843defendants’ CR 12(b)(6) motion. The State “[rjeluctantly” supported the motion for direct review because it would be “awkward” for the Court of Appeals to hear a challenge to its own organization. Answer to Statement of Grounds for Direct Review at 2. We granted review.

III. ANALYSIS

¶6 We review a trial court’s decisions on CR 12(b)(6) and summary judgment motions de novo. TracFone Wireless, Inc. v. Dep’t of Revenue, 170 Wn.2d 273, 280, 242 P.3d 810 (2010); Atchison v. Great W. Malting Co., 161 Wn.2d 372, 376, 166 P.3d 662 (2007). The trial court should grant a CR 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss “only ‘if it appears beyond a reasonable doubt that no facts exist that would justify recovery.’ ” Atchison, 161 Wn.2d at 376 (quoting Cutler v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 124 Wn.2d 749, 755, 881 P.2d 216 (1994)). Summary judgment should be granted if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. CR 56(c). In reviewing a summary judgment motion, we view facts and inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Fitzpatrick v. Okanogan County, 169 Wn.2d 598, 605, 238 P.3d 1129 (2010). We presume statutes are constitutional, and the challenging party bears the burden of establishing a statute’s unconstitutionality beyond a reasonable doubt. Carlisle v. Columbia Irrigation Dist., 168 Wn.2d 555, 578, 229 P.3d 761 (2010) (citing Brower v. State, 137 Wn.2d 44, 52, 969 P.2d 42 (1998)).

¶7 Eugster argues that article I, section 19 of the Washington Constitution requires the one-person, one-vote principle to apply to judicial elections. The equal protection clause of the United States Constitution requires that voting districts in legislative and administrative elections be apportioned so that each district has, as nearly as practicable, an equal population — the so-called one-person, one-vote principle. Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 568, 84 S. Ct. 1362, 12 L. Ed. 2d 506 (1964); Hadley v. Junior Coll. [844]*844Dist., 397 U.S. 50, 52, 90 S. Ct. 791, 25 L. Ed. 2d 45 (1970). The United States Supreme Court has summarily affirmed a Louisiana district court decision holding that the one-person, one-vote principle does not apply to judicial elections. Wells v. Edwards, 347 F. Supp. 453 (M.D. La. 1972), aff’d, 409 U.S. 1095, 93 S. Ct. 904, 34 L. Ed. 2d 679 (1973). The district court reasoned that “[t]he primary purpose of one-man, one-vote apportionment is to make sure that each official member of an elected body speaks for approximately the same number of constituents. But... ‘[t]he State judiciary, unlike the legislature, is not the organ responsible for achieving representative government.’ ” Id. at 455-56 (quoting N. Y State Ass’n of Trial Lawyers v. Rockefeller, 267 F. Supp. 148, 153 (S.D.N.Y. 1967)).

¶8 Eugster does not make a federal equal protection claim. Rather, in Eugster’s view, the one-person, one-vote principle must extend to judicial elections under the mandate of article I, section 19 that “[a] 11 Elections shall be free and equal.” Eugster devotes virtually no argument to why the words “free and equal” require one-person, one-vote apportionment for judicial elections, instead focusing on the general premise that article I, section 19 should apply to judicial elections.

¶9 In interpreting constitutional provisions, “ ‘[t]he words of the text will be given their common and ordinary meaning, as determined at the time they were drafted.’ ” Mills v. W. Wash. Univ., 170 Wn.2d 903, 914, 246 P.3d 1254 (2011) (quoting Wash. Water Jet Workers Ass’n v. Yarbrough, 151 Wn.2d 470, 477, 90 P.3d 42 (2004)).

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Bluebook (online)
171 Wash. 2d 839, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eugster-v-state-wash-2011.